From Dawn to Dusk
by DarkWolfAssassin
Summary: Sara, a new Guardian of the Warlocks, must battle against the Darkness to save the Last City. But, her thirst for knowledge brings her closer to the Dark, even when she's already closer than she thinks. Join Sara as she quests to save the Light, and delve deep into the Dark, facing its temptations as she goes. The Dark, is always present, even surrounded by Light.
1. Risen to Light

DWA: So, I guess I may take and legitimate announced break of my Pokemon story. Or just write it bit by bit until Arc five. League battles are…rough and tedious. SO, maybe a Destiny Fanfiction? Since forsaken in Destiny 2, I've had a small Idea. And here it is.  
Also obligatory disclaimer, I own nothing about Destiny or Destiny 2, just, my character, and her story in said universe. All my friends who appear here? You know who you are, and I hope I do you justice when you show.

 **Chapter 1: Risen to Light**

* * *

Dark Skies, rushing, screaming. So much chaos.

Soon to be so much death. The woman knew this. Her, paranoia her, theories. Other races she'd always hoped to be peaceful.

So much for that. She'd been granted access, clearance for her brain mainly. A scientist. She could understand but why her and not a mother and her three children. She was on the elevator up. Something felt wrong.

"We'll get out right?" The man beside her asked. She didn't know. No, maybe she did? She didn't like her idea. She looked out into the darkened skies. Something…was coming. Reports said ships out past mars had…stopped calling.

Through all the high hopes. She simply said. "No, we can't get out. It's just, not our fate." She said. Lightning flashed in the dark skies.

Followed by a deafening mechanized roar. She saw it, her death, her destruction. "Our doom hath come." She said. She saw the weapon fired through the skies. The people around her screamed and pushed. But it would do nothing.

She knew these ships AI, how they thought.

"Sorry Red, you won't complete your mission." She said as she looked at the large colony ship.

The weapon struck. Such a loud noise.

Such a deafening silence.

Such a bright Dark.

Something was…missing…something…important.

Air!

The woman took a deep breath and started coughing hard as she sat up. Her bones and joints popped and cracked. Moving felt, wrong. She felt stiff and…well wrong!

"It worked! You're alive!" A voice that sounded, off, called out. She looked up to see a…machine? A single blue light in its grey diamond shell. "You wouldn't believe how long I've been looking for you." The woman went to say something but started coughing again.

"Jeez how much dust was in there? So, questions, but no time. I'll give a short and sweet. I'm a ghost! Your ghost to be exact. You've been gone for a very long time. There's gonna be more questions than answers. And besides, it's not safe here." As if on cue, a roar called out, guttural and loud.

"This is Fallen territory, I need you safe and in the city, Grab your sidearm, and get to the breach in the wall." The robot said as it flew at her and vanished.

" _Don't worry, I'm just in your pack. Get up and moving._ " The woman looked around and saw a gun, small, could easily be held in one hand. She grabbed it and cocked it and stood. And then, she ran for the wall.

It was simple, easy, as she walked on the rusted walkway she heard, clicking, movement.

" _They're above us, no need to be quiet, they already know we're here."_ She looked ahead and saw, something, crawl up a pipe. From the glimpse, bipedal? Two arms and two legs.

She managed to finally speak, high pitched, yet, not shrill. "Was that….?"

" _Fallen, yes. We'll be okay, don't be scared….wait you're not scared. Fascinated?_ " The Ghost said.

And it's true, these, creatures with what glimpse they had were not human. And that…that excited her!

" _Guess I know what you are now. Keep moving. As excited as you are they still want you dead._ " He said. The woman nodded and jogged into a dark chamber.

"Can't be your flashlight forever. I'll fix that, hold tight." He said as he formed and flew off into the mechanisms. Soon power could be heard running through the lights and flashing on. Roars and cries of the Fallen and several scrambling away. The Ghost charged back to her.

" _Knees to chest!"_ She booked it after watching them scuttle away and saw a rifle and promptly grabbed it. She didn't remember anything, at all, but, made sure to check the magazine for bullets and cock the old rifle. She ran the corner and the fallen jumped her.

She finally got too see one. Four eyes, wrapped in red cloths, an odd pistol and an electrified blade. Two stumps. Fascinating!

She pulled the trigger aiming from the hip. The bullets sprayed out and took out the Fallen. She ran through the complex, gunning the Fallen down. Their odd weapons firing blue energy bolts, their blades coated in the stuff. She hadn't…felt the hits she'd taken yet. Splashing on a barrier around her. She saw more, bigger, better armor. Better weapons.

Four arms? Too much to consider why!

She ran into a wall, panting slightly as she went to reload, and didn't get a mag from…wherever she was getting them.

" _Out of ammo, switch!"_ She put the weapon on her back and pulled out her pistol and shot down the last of them. Waiting to see if anymore appeared, she sighed.

"Talk time?" She asked as she walked to leave the wall.

" _Not until we're on a ship."_ The Ghost said. She sighed and jogged outside and looked around. Suddenly, what seemed to be, an hourglass appeared from a point in the sky.

" _A Fallen Ketch!? Move! Building on the left!"_ She didn't need another order and ran as the massive ship's entrance was felt as she was pushed by wind. Smaller ships passed by overhead. She looked back to see the Fallen jump off their ship[s, and then saw the ones in front of her. Crowded together.

In one, single, spot. She, through instinct, charged, something in her hand. A purple light. She felt, dark. Yet elated.

A word appeared in her head that she seemed to, know.

Paracausal, fate changing.

She threw the ball, and it exploded, a vortex of purple light. It tore the odd machines that the Fallen had sent, into scrap. And ended the beating of Fallen hearts. She looked at her hands, clad in black leather.

She was more afraid of herself than them. But living, was more to her liking as a splash of blue energy hit beside her. And she ran inside, and shut the door. She could hear more.

" _Nice Vortex Grenade! Kinda proves you're a Warlock. I'll explain more in juuust a bit. My suggestion, grab the shotgun."_ The Ghost said. She looked to see the old weapon…it loved very old. Wooden handle, two barrels. She picked it up and opened it, two shells. She snapped it shut and put it on her back and looked out. Three small, one big. Some sort of field around it. She sighed. And fired her pistol.

Two shots, one dead.  
Three, another.  
Six franticly, the third small one. The big one roared. She hid, and readied her shotgun. The Large one turned the corner with swords ready.

A loud bang, the field gone, another…wisps. The large one felled.

" _Nice! Let me at the ship!"_

She walked out and the Ghost appeared and seemed to scan it.

"Wow its old. No jumps no flights. Dustier than you." He said with a chuckle.

"Ha ha. Will it fly?" She said. The Ghost looked to her.

"Will it fly she asks. I am a master." She said and seemed to fly into the ship. After a few seconds the ship whirred to life and broke free of its restraints. She smiled in her helmet, till she heard a loud, roar. She turned to see…a huge Fallen come out of the wall.

"Oh fuck…" She said. Her smile grew. "What, are you?" She asked with wonder. She was met with raised weapons.

" _Time to go!"_ She felt, like nothing. She was staring at this, massive, regal, and, powerful sentient creature, then she was in a cockpit. The ship floated up and took off, away from the Fallen.

She wanted to talk to them, understand. Even though they tried to kill her. She had…a need.

"Well, all's well that ends well, we're on route but it'll take some time. Business order one, names!" The Ghost said.

"Names?" She asked.

"Yes! You need one and I, well I don't but it'd be nice. Any ideas?" She asked. Two things seemed to pop in.

"Sara sounds, right for me. As for you Ghost…Seraph." She said

"Seraph? As in Seraphim the angels that worked directly for the God of Christianity?" He asked.

"I…guess?" She asked.

"I like it! Seraph!" He said. "Now, I have a lot to say, so, ears open Guardian!"

"What do you know of the Fallen?" She asked.

"I…okay? They're pirates. In terms of power its Dregs, Vandals, Captains, Servitors, Archons, Kells and Prime Servitors take near the same.

"Dregs have, two arms?" She asked. "Why?"

"Docking, a very, rough procedure that is removing the bottom two arms. Enough ether can regrow the arms or they get mechanical ones when they rank up, if they do." Seraph said.

"Yikes….are there books on these?" She asked.

"Plenty. You can read at the Tower." Seraph said. "By the way, you're a Warlock. Scholar warriors. You research and understand. Too a limit." He said straining the last sentence. Words seem to spill from her.

"When faced with extinction, no research is dangerous, no research is unethical…" She said.

"…That's dangerous?" Seraph said.

"…Not sure why I said that." She said and finally took off her helmet and looked into the visor. Bluish grey skin, bright green eyes, and messy long hair. "But I believe it I guess. Felt, recited." She said.

"Habits and such shouldn't remain from your life." He said. "Then again, Exos have them."

"Exos?" She asked.

"Ah, robots but waaaay higher on sophistication. Actual human minds in them. Be sure to treat them fairly. You're Awoken. Normally from the Reef, not sure when you ended up here. You have a habit, any memories?" He asked. Sara was busy using a scrap of cloth to put her hair into a ponytail.

Another habit she assumed.

No…no memo…ries." She said looking at the colony ship…the broken lift.

"Such fear…but, no recollection." She said quietly. Seraph looked there.

"Possible you died there, don't dwell on it. As for other guardians, I'll be quick. Titans are bulky and hard hitting, Hunters are scouts. As for now… Relax, take a nap. I'll get us to the tower. Then, tour time!"

"Sure Seraph." She said. "I'll, take a bit of a nap." She said and closed her eyes.

Hours passed before she was waken with a jolt.

"We're here, didn't want you to miss the sight." Seraph said and faced the window, and through the clouds came a…wonderful image.

A city, large and expansive, massive walls. And, then a massive…moon?

"Welcome to the last City on Earth. Smaller settlements exist, but we're the safest. And the big guy up there, is the Traveler. Source of the Light, and all Ghosts. Welcome home Sara." He said. She marveled at the sights until she pulled into the Hanger, and was transmatted out of her ship. A woman with blonde hair walked up and looked at her ship and whistled.

"Find this is in a rustyard Guardian?" She said with a laugh.

"Uhm, sort of?" She asked rubbing the back of her neck.

"Well, I'll be sure to fix her up for ya." She said. "Names Amanda Holliday, I keep things running here, vehicle wise. You can guess I'm busy." She said and pat Sara's shoulder. "Now go on git." She said and pushed her along.

" _She'll be working on that longer than she thinks. Come on! To the plaza, then, the Vanguard hall."_ Seraph said. Sara simply walked along till she came out to the main plaza and finally got a scale of the city and the Traveler.

"Wow…" She said.

"Nice view huh?" A slightly robotic voice said. She looked to her right to see, a massive robotic man. "View looks good fallin too." He said. For a robot, with two red eyes and small red horns on a white face, she could tell he was…smiling. A Ghost appeared by him.

"Theoduin-1! That is not how we welcome new Guardians!" She said.

"That's not how you do it Silvia. But I'll bite. Welcome to the fold kid. Also call me Theoduin, no need for the number yet." He said and…pat is not the word for how she was almost pushed off the edge.

"Oh god!" She said and pushed herself back. Theoduin laughed.

"Theo!" A voice called out as a human came up. "Scouting mission, split the glimmer?" He asked hand on hip. Theoduin chuckled.

"Sure Alsyf, a few more times like this they'll have us looking to make an actual fireteam." He said. "See ya kinderguardian." Theoduin said and the two walked off. Seraph appeared beside her.

"Those two seem nice. Just so you know Guardians tend to act in teams of two to three. Lone guardians don't last long on harder missions. Now! Quick rundown." He said and a marker appeared over the head a bunch of guardians were surrounding.

Blue skin, darker.

"That's Master Rahool, he'll turn any encoded engrams into gear. Gear is color coded engram wise. In terms of power, White, green, blue, Purple, and yellow." He said and she nodded.

"Kadi runs the post office near Eververse. There's a bounty board for while you're out and Banshee over there sells guns and maintains them. Oh uh, if he forgets you donnt be insulted. His minds really fragmented at forty four reboots." He said. Sara started walking.

"Reboots?" She asked.

"Simple, a mind wipe. It's what the number stands for. It generally doesn't happen anymore, but, it can…somehow." He said. "Now, for the Vanguard, I've already notified them." Sara nodded and walked into the hall…past a man with a stature that makes Theoduin look meek.

"I don't like how he stared at me…" She said.

"That's just Lord Shaxx, he's probably a softie when he's not running the Crucible, that's for later." Seraph said as they walked into the hall.

There were three people at the table.

One the right was a dark skinned woman in robes and a mostly bald head. She was looking at a data pad.

On the left, a blue Exo in brown armor and a hood. He was in a chair, feet on the table and chatting with his ghost.

At the other end was a Awoken, purple skin and armor with a massive pauldron. He turned.

"Ah, welcome Guardian. He said and walked to the table.

The Exo looked Sara over. "Ikora I think this is one of yours soooo I'm gonna go get a drink for all of us." He said and swiftly hopped up and tried to take off.

"Cayde." The woman said setting the data pad down. "You should welcome the new Guardian." She said. "At the very least."

Cayde stopped and sighed. "Yes yes hey kiddo. I'm Cayde-6 hunter Vanguard and I seem to have left my "I really wish I wasn't here right now" button at home. Guess I'm grabbin that too. Talk later, promise." He said and pat her shoulder as he left.

"Is…he?" She started before Seraph appeared beside her,

"Always." He said. She turned to the other two, Ikora a barely seeable smile and Zavala shaking his head.

"I am Zavala, Titan Vanguard and Vanguard Commander. I am coordinator and deployer of Guardians as well. But, Ikora is the one you really wish to talk to. Ikora, I leave you to it." He said and turned to his Ghost. She turned to Ikora and stiffened as she examined her.

"Yes, a bright Light. A need for knowledge. Warlock, it's as simple as this. Welcome to the Order." She said and formed a large bracelet, and snapped it on her left arm. "You will train in the field soon Guardian. Go to Banshee and get your weapons. In the meantime, we will search for a working NLS drive for your ship." She said with a warm smile…warm like sunlight.

"Do I have access to the archives?" Sara asked. She swore she heard Zavala laugh.

"Of course, and your Ghost now knows where your room in the Tower is. I'd give more, fanfare but, that got dull a few decades ago." She said.

"I prefer this. I have, lots of questions." She said.

"About?" Ikora asked.

"The Fallen for now, but I'll look to books." She said. Ikora nodded.

"Ask Cayde when you have a chance, he seems oddly versed in Fallen. Take him out for ramen." She said.

"Ramen?" Seraph asked.

"Don't ask. Now go on and get some rest." She said. Sara nodded and left to see Shaxx speaking softly, something about, tearing down a foundry himself if they tried to fix a crucible fight again.

Ikora made her uncomfortable with her gaze. Shaxx quiet voice terrified her. If he yelled she'd die to a heart attack…maybe. She walked over to Banshee, who was fiddling with a rifle.

"Hey Guardian." He said, such a deep gravelly voice. "Primaries: Hand Cannon, Auto, Pulse, or Scout?" He asked.

"I uh….scout." She said and he put one down. He then pointed to a lot of other weapons. "Energy?"

"…The uh, odd looking one?" She asked and he set it down.

"Fusion Rifle, charge weapon. Hold the trigger, always an element." He said. He then noticed her shotgun. "Wow…that's old." He said. She pulled it out.

"I…just kinda found it. Worked like a charm though." She said and set it down.

"Hmm, never get a chance to work with this, got a project already brewing. Mind leaving it with me? Free of charge to make this a weapon that Titans would fear…or something close."

"Oh! Go ahead! I've only ever shot it twice." She said but he wasn't listening by that point.

"Break Action, buckshot. Short range but tight spread…" His words seemed to devolve into mumbling. Sara shrugged and walked off, leaving the man to his work.

"So Seraph, can I request books to my room?" She asked.

" _We have a digital archive Sara, you'll have a terminal."_ He said.

"Awesome!" She said. She took the long walk to her room in the tower and the door slid open for her. Nothing fancy. A TV, couch, coffee table. Small kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. Three rooms, her new home. She sat on the bed and sighed, and finally got a real chance to think.

She didn't have a past, not anymore. Yet thoughts linger. Thoughts she can't even make out, she won't try for now. "Seraph, can you request articles and books on the Fallen. Culture, Language, the more studious stuff." She said as Seraph appeared and went to a terminal by her bed.

"Of course! I'll also get books Ikora requests every Warlock to read." He said and data started pouring in. She sighed and looked in a closet and found…normal clothes. Sleeveless shirt, jacket, sweatpants and the like. She looked at her armor and shrugged and got dressed. She had a feeling Seraph would either not look or already knew what she looked like well enough.

"So, second lot at life huh?" She said looking out her window into the city.

"The Vanguard will probably want us to go out and get our NLS drive the second they find it so be ready." Seraph said.

"Calm down Seraph, for now…let me take in the sights. I'm gonna be here a long time, so I'll take in the generals now." She said.

"Right…I should do the same. It's been a while." He said and came up next to her.

"Seraph?" She asked.

"Yes Sara?" He asked looking over to see her smiling at him.

"Thanks for bringing me back."

* * *

DWA: Soooo yeah, Destiny fanfic. My major worry is that with new games I lose old interests. But TAA is on hold until I get back my spark for Pokémon and I've needed a bit of variety


	2. Hand of the Devil's

DWA: Hey, just so you know this does follow D1's story line and expansions. I of course, will be adding other story bits and such into it. That will be of my own design.

 **Chapter 2: Hand of the Devil**

* * *

Sara woke to dim lights. She looked to her clock. 5 am. Over the last few days she'd been reading the books Ikora asked, and the ones she asked for. She got them all done. She knew there was more to the Eliksni than just, piracy and ruthlessness.

It was hard to believe however. She just needs to find the right ones.

"Good luck with that." Seraph said, his eye shining in the dark. Her research over the few days made her wants obvious.

"Thanks Seraph, even if it wasn't honest." She said and hopped up and went for a shower.

"The second we find a Fallen-"

"Eliksni!" She called out.

"I'll keep saying Fallen if it annoys you." He said.

"Can't believe you're my Ghost." She said. "But it's only with you I'll say Eliksni, the rest know them as Fallen." She said. As she let the water run down her she sighed. Last night she'd received a message. She'd be getting her NLS drive. A couple Guardians sent along to make sure she comes back and to help fully track it down.

Was she nervous? Yeah, but also excited. She finished her shower and Seraph put on her robes, feeling them form around her.

"Guess it's a formal event?" She asked as she grabbed her rifle.

"For a Guardian? Yes." He said. She sighed and walked out as she grabbed her Fusion rifle and attached her weapons to her back. The door closed behind her and Seraph locked it. Took a while to get to the hanger. Her ship looked…

Well, as new as a derelict could. Holliday walked over and chuckled.

"You're ship gave me way too much trouble." She said.

"Seraph said it would." She said smiling.

"Seraph must be the little guy huh? Well she'll fly and even fight if necessary. I can easily install the NLS when you get back." She said and then yawned. "But please, take your time." She said as she sat at a desk and seemed to fall asleep fast.

"Must have been tired. Seraph, let's get an NLS drive." She said and she was transmatted into her ship, and took off. Seraph appeared beside her.

"We're going back to the Cosmodrome. By the way, a few years ago I found some old music. Like, really old. Pre Golden Age." He said.

"How much?" She asked.

"A lot. I'll play some during the flight, or you can get more sleep." He said.

"Let me sleep a bit Seraph, music for the return trip." She said. She lied back in her chair and slowly drifted off.

But her sleep was not met with kindness.

She woke up standing where she'd been resurrected. The Cosmodrome…yet, different.

"Seraph? Where are we?" She asked…no response. "Seraph?" She called. Silence. She looked around. The broken bridge of concrete was whole, the cars new. People were frozen in place, running for the Colony Ship.

"They're…afraid." She said and looked around. Darkened skies…a hole in her gut.

"Somethings not right…" She said and held her arm. She was…scared as well, she wanted to run for the ship but she didn't. She knew she wouldn't get away.

There was a loud mechanical roar that caused her to cover her ears. Yet, she heard right through it. Voices, all ringing out, the same words.

"Light, cannot smother, the Dark." She looked up to see a blast of energy rip through the skies at the lift to the ship, only for it to stop midflight, and shoot towards her.

She screamed.

Sara woke up in the cockpit of her ship panting hard.

"Sara! Finally! You were, well, writhing in your seat I couldn't wake you up! What were you dreaming about?" He asked.

"I…I don't know. It was vivid but I can't recall it well…or I don't want to." She said and held her head.

"If you need me Sara I'm right here." He said.

"Thank you Seraph, are…we close?" She asked.

"Yes, just a couple minutes. The fireteam we'll be rendezvousing with has been here for a week now. Simple clear mission with scouting. Word from the Vanguard is that they were the ones to pick up the trail." She said. She could see the colony ships in the distance.

Her stomach twisted, but she shook it off and her helmet formed around her head. "Let's do this!"

The ship flew by the transmat zone and she was sent to the ground. She checked her robes and guns and started a jog to a nearby building. She tested out her…jump ability. Ikora had spent a few hours showing her how it's done. She glided across the air, Light reducing her gravity. When she touched ground she nodded and walked to the side of the building, a few dead fallen on the ground.

" _Looks like they had fun."_ Seraph said.

"Seems so…" She muttered and jogged past and went down the stairs. She heard a voice nearby.

"-Thought you had this?" One voice asked mockingly.

"She does!" A deeper voice replied, one she recognized.

"Theoduin-1?" She asked herself silently and walked into the room to see a Hunter and Titan having a back and forth.

"Seraph give em a hand." She said as she holstered her gun. Seraph appeared and flew over and got to work with the other Ghost.

"Athena come on!" Theoduin shouted. A Ghost appeared by the Hunter.

"It's not me." She said. The Hunter looked over.

"Guess this one's yours?" He asked. Sara nodded and hopped through the window in the wall.

"His name's Seraph." She said.

"And we're done, we but there's nothing about the NLS drive. But we have a map now!" He said and flew into Sara.

"Introductions then?" The Hunter said.

"I'm first! I'm-" He started but was cut off.

"Theoduin-1. We met when I first arrived on the tower. You nearly knocked me off the tower." She said with a laugh.

"Oh, that was you! So that junker was yours huh? Shame you needed to come out for a Drive." He said. "So you know Silvia too." He said as his Ghost floated by him.

"Thanks for the assist Seraph." She said as she vanished.

"I'm Alsyf." The Hunter said. "And the flashlight here is Athena." He said gesturing to his Ghost

"Just a flashlight hm? Well next time I need to open a door I may just take a few more minutes." She said and vanished.

"You always do that to her." Theoduin said. Alsyf shrugged.

"We got orders to assist you on your mission, then we can finally get home." Alsyf said and pulled out a Hand Cannon, and Theoduin an Auto Rifle. Sara grabbed her rifle.

"My name's Sara, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Sara. Theo, take point. Sara, mind being in the middle?" He asked. Theodiun laughed and walked out.

"You would take it there." He muttered and walked out. Sara shook her head with a smile and jogged to catch up. The group left the building and walked into another larger building nearby.

"Head up team, NLS drive detected." Athena said into the comms.

"Bad news, it's in Fallen hands." Silvia said.

"I'm sure we're fine." Seraph said. Then they walked into the room closest to the signature.

"Isn't this where we found the ship?" Sara asked.

" _It is…which means that big guy may have it…an Archon. That's bad, let's hope you're all ready."_ Seraph said.

"Fallen!" Theoduin said and he rushed in, fist sparking with Arc Light.

"Dammit Theo!" Alsyf said and fired his hand cannon, taking out a Shank in one shot. Sara slid into cover and took a breath before peeking out and taking potshots at the Captain's shield. Theoduin suddenly showed up by it and slammed his fist into the shield, causing it to burst. He then blasted its head apart with a Shotgun, ether spewing from it as it fell back.

"WOOO!" Theoduin shouted.

"Certainly loves his job." Sara said as she shot down the rest with Alsyf.

"So, where's the drive?" Alsyf said as the group met in the middle of the room. Then there was a sound, crawling, metal on stone. Sara looked to the hole in the wall and saw the multiple lights on the Archons helm. Alsyf looked as it climbed out of the hole with a growl.

"Archon!" He shouted and sprinted for cover, Theoduin didn't look as he ducked behind a box, Sara behind a pillar.

"He has the drive!" Sara shouted as shrapnel blasts hit beside her

"You're fuckin with us." Theoduin said flatly.

"You wanted a test Thoduin, you have it." Alsyf said pulling a Sniper out and blasting it in the head, the Archon merely flinching slightly. Dregs and Shanks came out of the wood works. Theoduin started taking them down as Sara charged an orb of Void in her left hand and tossed it at the Archon, hitting it in the chest and causing a vortex, which it walked right through.

"Oh bullshit." She said.

"Let's see how it hands a Fist!" Theoduin shouted over the comms.

"Theo listen to Silvia this time!" Alsyf said firing twice more at its head, then running from arc fire. Theoduin rushed out of cover, Arc Light dancing all across his body. He bounced off a Pillar and rose his fists above his head and slammed into the Archon with a roar, a blast of Arc energy flashed out. Theoduin jumped off, but was grabbed by the Archon.

It roared in his face before slamming him faced first in the ground several times, then tossed him to the wall. Theoduin didn't move after that.

The Archon roared in victory as Silvia appeared over Theoduin, yelling frantically and incoherently. The realization hit Sara hard, and even if he was a Guardian.

Theoduin had just gotten killed…partly because of her.

"SARA!" Alsyf screamed in her ear.

"S-Sorry, second combat!" She said.

"It's fine, distract him! I'll rez him!" He shouted over gunshots. She looked around and saw Dregs fall, and the Archon shooting at Alsfy. Sara took out her Fusion Rifle, aimed, charged, and fired. About half the bolts missed, but the rest hit, and the Archon glared at her, and started walking to her. Sara took running and fired again, seeing Alsyf at Theoduins body out of the corner of her eye. The second Theoduin was up again, she heard a blast.

Alsyf was covered in flames, a Golden Gun in hand.

"Hey Ether Breath!" Alsyf shouted. The Archon glanced over. "Suck it."

Three blasts in rapid succession. The Archon reeled and roared loudly, now Vandals came into the room.

"Still alive…?" Alsyf said and pushed Theoduin away and jumped from the shrapnel blasts. The Archon rushed Alsyf, actually running and slamming him to the wall with his gun.

"Theoduin take care of the rest!" Sara shouted running past him.

"Got it! Eyes and ears off!" He shouted and tossed a grenade in the air and shot it with his shotgun, the flash and sound blasting out. Sara fired her fusion rifle at the Archons back until she had to reload. The Archon threw Alsfy like a toy and backhanded Sara to the other side of the room. She coughed hard and was sure her sternum was broken.

" _Working on it!"_ Seraph said as her broken bones mended. She switched to the Scout Rifle and shot from her sitting position as the Archon ran at her, until he was hit by hard shots from Alsyf's sniper. Sara looked to the right to see Theoduin wrestling with Vandals.

This, had to end. Her body was covered in Void light as she stood and jumped up and used her Glide to hover.

"You won't harm any Guardian like Theoduin, ever, AGAIN!" She shouted. She though she threw a Grenade, but, it couldn't have been with its size. The massive orb slammed into the Archon and exploded with massive force. The Archon didn't even roar as it fell, its head and well, a chunk of its torso gone. Sara just fell down and landed on her back, panting. She heard more gunshots, the others fighting the remaining Fallen. Then she was pushed into a sitting position. Theoduin sat to her right, Alsyf on her left.

"Holy fuck…we killed an Archon." Alsyf said. "That's…that's bullshit we should _not_ have done that."

"Just bask in it." Theoduin said.

"Keep the helmets on, Ether inhalation has detrimental effects, even on Exos." Sara said with a light laugh.

Their ghosts all appeared.

"Keep it on, Theoduin." Silvia said getting in his face.

"I will I will Traveler you're like a mom." He said.

"Athena how'd we do?" Alsyf asked.

"Adequate. But satisfactory." She said.

"Liar, they did amazing." Seraph said.

"…I wanna go home." Sara said standing up.

"Yeah same, let's get the fuck outta here." Alsyf said and stood and dusted off. The three got transmatted up to their ships and took off. Sara saw their ships for the first time.

Theoduin's had massive engines for a bulky ship, Alsyf's was rather slim, quick looking, befitting a Hunter.

"We have a comm's link, to their private channel. Patching you in." Seraph said.

"Jeez what a junker." Alsfy could be heard over the line.

"See? I told you. Right outta the junkyard." Theoduin said.

"I can hear you guys." Sara said.

"We're dead." Theoduin said.

"Possible, but unlikely. I don't think 'Killing a Guardian for trash talking my ship' would look good on my record." She said.

"Ahh minor offense." Alsyf said.

The three bantered and talked the whole flight home. Sara had isolated herself when she got to the tower. She even forgot about the old music

She had planned to stay isolated, nose in books. But, seeing Theoduin revived, reminded her, she didn't age much at all.

Plenty of time to have fun.

* * *

DWA: I'm already enjoying the change of pace for this. Expect more soon!


	3. The Vow

DWA: Writing this chapter proved I can't name anything. I should include an edit to the last intro. D1's story is a book, then the first two expansions is another, etc etc. Either way more content woo!

* * *

 **Ch 3: The Vow**

It had been nearly a month since she'd woken up in the snow among rust and ghosts. And Sara was having a wonderful time.

She'd been working with Alsyf, who'd she'd found out was a Human with white hair. Had to have been early twenties when he died originally. Theoduin was of course, there as well. The three were flying home from a small mission they'd signed up for. Currently they were talking resurrecting for the first time.

"So you woke up in the old city Athens?" Sara asked.

"Got Athena's name from exploring the city. Fallen house of Kings seemed to love the place. Took me a while to get a ship but, boy it was the first time I felt safe." He said.

"Theoduin?" Sara asked.

"Oh! Midwest America. Had to walk near the Manhattan Nuclear Zone to find my ship." He said.

"You're an Exo though?" Alsyf said.

"Radiation kills you guys, gives me a migraine." He replied.

"And Silvia?" Sara asked.

"Yelling at me for even taking a small amount of rads." He said.

"I was not!" Her voice shouted over the comms.

"You yelled at me for swimming instead of taking a near days extra walk!" He shouted.

"You could have fried!"

"I'm an Exo a war machine! If rain could kill me there'd be no Exo Guardians!" Theoduin shouted.

"Be right back you guys." Silvia said before they were muted.

"I swear it's like a mom and her reckless kid." Seraph said.

"At least she cares." Alsyf said.

"Hey, who wants to hear music?" Sara asked.

"What kind?" Athena asked.

"Pre-Golden Age. Timestamped really early 2000's." She said and set it up. The music was upbeat and rather, well fun!

"So what is this?" Theoduin said.

"Uh, High Hopes by…Panic! At the Disco? What kinda name?" Sara asked laughing.

"Weird but there are worse fireteam names than that. You haven't lived to you hear Zavala say Fireteam "The Bad Guys Don't Really Care What We Call Ourselves Do They" over the Tower PA." Alsyf said.

"A lot of Guardians laughed at that one." Athena said, with a bit of a chuckle to her voice.

The three bantered on till they arrived at the tower.

"Drinks?" Alsyf asked pointing to the bar.

"I'm in." Theoduin said.

"You guys go ahead, I'll turn in." Sara said. Then Zavala came on the coms.

"Guardians Sara, Theoduin-1, and Alsyf please report to the Vanguard Hall ASAP, thank you." He said, followed by Cayde.

"And we know you just landed so don't think you can just-Hey! Don't turn it-" The PA cut off.

"…Drinks after." Alsyf said as the three walked towards the Hall. Sara looked them all over, they had changed from their dull brown and white armor to more, colorful and better looking gear. Alsyf a more, brown and yellow, Theoduin more Red and White, and Sara a bright orange robe her most standout piece. The three walked into the Hall and stood straight.

"Heeey guys, been doin great out there." Cayde said.

"Yes, enough for people to get talking how you managed to kill an Archon." Ikora said.

"That was fun." Theoduin said with a chuckle.

"I bet. Terrifying but fun." Cayde said.

"And the fact there's talk about you three is why you're called here." Zavala said. "We think its best you operate together, indefinitely." He said.

"Congratulations, you're an official Fireteam." Ikora said with a rare smile.

"I…uhm, thanks?" Alsyf said. He wasn't too sure on how these went it just seemed, unceremonious.

"I know Hunter, it sucks being bogged down with two people but trust me, helps having two more sets of eyes watching your back, so long as you keep watching yours." Cayde said.

"In the meantime, while it's not a requirement, Fireteams generally make a name for themselves." Zavala said.

"We didn't." Cayde interrupted.

"If you wish, have it ready by tomorrow morning." Ikora said before picking up a datapad. "Or whenever really."

"You're dismissed Guardians. Enjoy your night." Zavala said. The three saluted, hand balled in a fist and to their heart. They then left, passing Shaxx, whom Sara had made a habit of waving too, and he waved back.

"You know Shaxx?" Theoduin asked.

"Oh hell no. I'm trying to stop being scared of him. That's step one, step two is to talk to him." She said.

"Is Step three third base?" Alsyf asked.

"Step three is getting him to kill you. Thanks for the suggestion!" Sara said. "Also now I'm down for drinks, lemme go change first." She said and ran off. She'd hope the guys would change too, it'd be nice to be casual for once. She walked into her room, and as the door closed her armor digitized as she went to her wardrobe.

"So, an actual Fireteam. Any ideas for a name?" Seraph said.

"None." She replied putting on her tank top and a hoodie she bought. She then put on some shorts and looked herself over.

"Howzit?" She asked.

"I'm a floating eye." Seraph said. "But it looks fine." He said. Sara nodded and walked back to the bar in the Hanger. It was, rather packed. Alsyf waved her down. The two did change!

Alsfy had a hoodie too, long pants and a white shirt underneath his hoodie. Theoduin had cargo pants and a black shirt. Sara sat at their little booth. "Sup, scooch roboman." She said and Theoduin moved over to make room for her.

"I have a name." He said.

"And?" She asked.

"So use it!" He said.

"Nah. Anyways, we talking names for a Fireteam or are we not caring?" She asked.

"We care." Alsyf said. "And none of our names." He said.

"No shit." She said. "So, let's put our heads together.

The group drank lightly as they worked out a name.

"So, Mythic?" She asked.

"Based that our Ghosts kinda have that feeling in name, it works." Theoduin said.

"Fireteam Mythic…I like it." Sara said.

"Now, we have that. Should we make a silly vow?" Alsyf joked.

"I like it. Simple one though." Theoduin said.

"No wait I was-"

"To watch over each other even in the Darkest Dark. To never let our Light falter." Sara said smiling.

"…And that's just, off the top of your head huh?" Alsyf said looking at her.

"It sounded so rehearsed its funny." Theoduin said.

"I thought it was good." Sara said.

"No it's good but it's bullshit you just came up with it. Anyways." He said and held out his fist. "To Mythic." Theoduin and Sara put their fists to his, a small triangle in the space between them.

"To Mythic." They said and took a long drink.

"Hey, Sara, one thing I just realized. You never told us where you rezzed." Alsyf said.

"Knowing her, a library. I swear last mission she was typing away on a fallen computer while shooting." Theoduin said.

"Actually…just outside the Cosmodrome walls." She said. "Where we found the NLS drive was where I found my ship." She said.

"No kidding?" Alsyf said.

"Nice, lotsa Fallen there, musta been a rude awakening. Any clues on your death?" Theoduin joked. Sara's grip on her glass tightened as her dream…nightmare came back in flashes.

"Sara?" Alsyf asked, noticing her grip.

"…I had a nightmare, on the ship to the Cosmodrome a week ago. It looked like events that had taken place. Something shot at the lift near the colony ship…and it turned to me." She said. Seraph appeared.

"That's what it was? I didn't tell you but, you were more than just moving a bit in your seat. You were actively trying to undo your harness, while asleep." Seraph said.

"Sara, I didn't mean to bring that back, Guardians aren't supposed to recall anything past death. Exos know their names and that's it." He said and put a hand on her shoulder. She sighed.

"I'm, I'm fine. Let's not worry about it. It was one dream I had a week ago. So I think I know how I died, so what?" She said with a fake smile. Theodiun seemed to accept it. Alsyf gave a smile too. But Sara knew. He's a Hunter, a scout, had to notice small details.

He didn't buy it, but dropped it.

Now it was definitely time to get drunk. The three drank, sang badly to songs on the jukebox and joked around. On the cool walk home Sara stopped at the plaza and looked out into the city.

"Say Seraph?" She asked and her Ghost appeared beside her.

"Yes Sara?" He asked.

"Why me?" She asked and looked to him leaning on the railing.

"Ah well. We Ghost all have a frequency of light we, subscribe too…it's really hard to explain. In layman's terms, we don't resurrect just anybody. We look for that perfect one. Like finding someone you love." He said.

"And I won that gamble?" She asked.

"Yep. Lots of Ghosts still don't have a Guardian." He said.

"After all this time." She said. She pushed off the railings and started walking again.

"I was thinking I'd never find you, but, I felt pulled to the Cosmodrome that night. Searched for a month till I found you. And hey, I think I made the right choice." He said. Sara smiled.

"Now now, it's far too early to say that." She said.

"Sara you killed an Archon!" He said.

"With help. Look you've known me for a week. Give it time." She said laughing. "Maybe one day I'll turn out like Toland." She said.

"Hey, I'm with you regardless. Just play it safer." He said.

"Jeez, you're too good for me buddy." She said getting in the elevator. She tapped her floor and down it went.

"Either way, got a long road ahead." She said.

She got to her room and sighed and updated her terminal with the new data. It was, semantics. Bickering between Kings and Devils and Dialect differences.

"Sorry we couldn't get more before it fried." Seraph said.

"…You think I can learn their language?" She asked.

"Given time and a full alphabet and such. We'd need many more samples and such." Seraph said. Sara smiled. "Alright, goal; one, learn Eliksni." She said.

"But first I think you need to sleep." Seraph said.

"Yeah, you're right. Night!" She said throwing off her clothes and jumping into bed.

"Sure you get to sleep now I have to sit here till morning…still, it's nice not to have to search anymore." Seraph said and looked out into the window.

Sara woke up back at the Cosmodrome, the same scene in front of her.

"Again?" She asked and started jogging. If she recalled right, she didn't have much time till the blast. She had to see more. She ran into the wall as she did upon her first resurrection before the roar happened. There were people here too, running, in both directions. She looked at name tags and recognized no one and the roar happened.

"Well, I'm inside at least." She said. Then, voices in her head.

"Light, cannot smother, the Dark."

A blast, burning her. Killing her.

She woke up with a shout.

"Sara! Another nightmare?" Seraph asked.

She was panting. She was terrified!? Why!? She was fine!

"Why am I sweating?" She whispered. "I knew it was coming, why am I so scared?" She said looking at Seraph.

"I wish I could tell you besides vitals. You're in fight or flight, adrenaline is skyrocketing your brain is just all over the place." He said.

"Something about that blast scares me…something about those…words…" She said.

"Words? You didn't say anything about words." Seraph said.

"Light cannot smother the Dark, that's what it said." She sighed and looked at her clock, 7 am, not too bad. She stood and stretched.

"Vanguard's expecting you, but if you need a day off I can understand, that wording is…ominous." Seraph said.

"No, it's…it's fine. But, same dream twice? No way it's a coincidence." She said. "But, not much I can do right now." She said and walked into her bathroom. She sighed. There had to be an explanation but she just, couldn't think of one. She took her shower and did her purple hair into a ponytail as she always does. She walked out as her armor appeared. She grabbed her weapons and headed out for the Vanguard Hall. Theoduin and Alsyf were waiting.

"Sup Sara?" Alsyf asked.

"Oh not much, bit restless but besides that, peachy!" She said.

"Well, let's go and get registered. The group walked in and she waved to Shaxx, who waved back. Seemed to be a habit now. They walked in and saluted. Ikora and Zavala nodded but Cayde gave a finger gun. Seemed right.

"So, quick thing, you guys make a name?" Cayde asked.

"That's not why we called them." Zavala said.

"Chill Z let them have one last thing of fun before we send them on a mission." He said.

"We, actually did have one." Theoduin said.

"Don't keep us waiting." Ikora said.

"We're Fireteam Mythic." Sara said.

"Sounds mysterious, I like it. We'll set that up. Ikora, what's their sitrep?" Cayde said.

"You'll be looking at the Skywatch in the Cosmodrome. Get going and you'll be briefed by your Ghosts. Just know, Fallen aren't having fun after some green Guardians killed an Archon." She said.

"Keep them busy Guardians. Dismissed." Zavala said. The three saluted and as they left Sara swore she heard Cayde say something about the salute.

"Good Luck Guardians. Come back with the spoils of war." Shaxx said. It was the first time Sara had heard him talk. She expected gravelly and harsh. It was, softer than she thought.

On the way to the Hanger, a voice called out.

"Warlock, c'mere, got a gift." Banshee's gravelly voice called out. Sara waved the guys ahead and went up to Banshee, who held out the smaller version of the shotgun she found.

"Old World Blues, powerful. Two shots break action. I added some tech to give it an, exotic feel. Simply put, get close, pull the trigger hard, and the gun will shoot both shells. Not much but really tough enemies will survive that." He said. She strapped it to her leg and smiled.

"Thanks Banshee." She said.

"Felt good to work on it, so don't mention it. Don't lose it." He said. Sara nodded and ran to catch up with her Fireteam.

The group made their way to the hanger, where their ships were waiting. She really had to work with Holliday about her ship. She just had, no ideas. A new color at least. For now they were given the green light and were transmatted into their ships, and took off.

"First mission as a Fireteam." Sara said.

"I know, should be, ya know, like every mission the three of us have done together." Alsyf said.

"Nah this isn't one of your bounty board missions, this is straight from the Vangaurd." Theoduin said. "Hopefully it'll be tough!" He said.

"So who wants to read the briefing? Sara asked. Athena's voice came on the comms.

"I shall. There are reports that the Fallen in the Cosmodrome are keeping a tight guard on the Skywatch. Possibilities include a Fallen leader or object of value." She said.

"Sounds good." Theoduin said. "We'll arrive in a couple hours. Jokes anyone?" Theoduin said.

"Turning off my comms now." Alsyf said before a click was heard and Sara laughed it up.

"Hey, last time I tried he shot at me." Theoduin said.

"Bullshit." Sara said. Banter resumed till they arrived and landed. The three checked their gear as Seraph spoke up.

"Past the steppes and the Mothyard, that's where the Skywatch is. Time hoof it." He said.

"Gee thanks." Alsyf said and the group made their way. A few other Guardians were out and about. They seemed to be keeping the areas clear of major Fallen detachments. They soon entered the Mothyards.

"So many old planes and ships." Sara said. "So much history, so many stories with no way to tell em." She said smiling.

"If they could we'd be here a week." Theoduin said.

"I'd be, you guys could go home. By the way who leads our Fireteam?" She asked jogging to catch up.

"No one yet." Alsyf said. "We'll find out sooner or later." He said. They went up a small road to the front of the facility.

"Fallen." Theoduin said. Alsyf took out his sniper and got a better look.

"Captain and two vandals. That's it? Must be more inside." He said. He then took a position behind a barrier. Sara and Theoduin got closer.

"Theoduin, mind flashing them?" She asked.

"Sure thing." He said and pulled out a grenade and filled it with Light, and chucked it over the wall, a loud bang from the detonation and all three opened fire.

The Fallen fell like rocks. They moved up and grabbed what they could use for ammo and made their way inside, only to be greeted by a large gate. Silvia came out and inspected.

"Dead end. I'll get it open." She said and began working on the lock. "Wow, the Fallen really didn't want anyone getting in…or out." She said with, less enthusiasm.

"What could the fallen be holding in there?" Alsyf asked.

"We're about to find out." Sara said and put her rifle up. Alsyf and Theoduin readied their weapons too. Silvia backed off as the door opened to reveal green lights and black masses.

"Gross." Sara said.

"Move slowly." Alsyf said and walked in, the others following.

"Just a heads up, movement is…everywhere? I, have a very bad feeling about this." Seraph said. Their ghost came up and acted as flashlights as they came into a dark room. Sara bent down and ran her hand across the black masses.

"Soft, wet, layer of slime to keep moisture. And of course, gross." She said and shook her hand to get the slime off. There was a screech and the group looked to the door to see creatures with seemingly no eyes rush them.

"What the fuck!?" Alsyf said and started shooting. Sara and Theoduin following suit.

"It's the Hive!" Silvia said.

"They shouldn't be on Earth!" Athena shouted over the shooting. Wisps of void flew by them and splashed into the ground as more of the…Hive rushed them Theoduin tossed a Flashbang as Alsyf and Sara took cover. The explosion had the Hive reeling.

One of the rushing creatures had taken cover and rounded the corner near Sara and raked its claws on her back, causing her to cry out and spin with palm open. She them pulled it close as energy drained from the creature as it disintegrated.

"Need names!" Sara said.

"Thralls and Acolytes, I'm detecting a Wizard as well, it has to go!" Seraph said. Sara nodded.

"Theoduin! Room clear!" Sara shouted. Theoduin rushed towards the remaining enemies, Arc Light dancing across his bodies as he leapt up and slammed down, clearing the room.

"There's a Wizard here, Seraph says we need to take it down!" Sara said as she ran out from cover and got her Fusion rifle out. Theoduin changed to his shotgun as Alsyf ran ahead. They ran up the stairs into a dual roomed area, one larger as they ran in, and the other was more hive as they spilled out. The wizard was floating and screeched at them.

Sara gathered the void in her right hand. "Clearing!" She shouted as she launched a Nova Bomb through the window, the resulting explosion killed many Hive, but the Wizard seemed to grin. She raised her hands and sent bolts of Arc Energy out that slammed into Sara with heavy force. Two thralls came out as Theoduin wrestled with more and tackled her down as she was pelted.

All went black after well, not too long. Those blasts hurt.

"Sara's down!" Alsyf said shooting the Thrall on her. Theoduin's Storm Fist blasted the Thrall on him back with an Arc explosion.

"I got her!" Theoduin shouted and ran over to her only for a black fog to cover him, and it hurt! "Fuck! It's surrounding her!" The arc blasts hit him as he backed off and got behind cover. More Void shots splashed on his cover. Loud shots were heard from behind him. Alsyf was sniping them.

"I got the wizard!" Alsyf said as he raised his hand up and formed Golden Gun, and Shot three times into the wizard, its shield bursting and the subsequent shots doing the damage to kill it. The rest of the hive ran out of the facility upon the Wizards death.

"Not as hard as the Archon." Theoduin said as he rezzed Sara, who gasped and sat up.

"…This feels weird." She said looking up at Theoduin and getting up.

"First few feel that way, soon, it feels oddly natural." Alsyf said walking over and sifting through ash and dust.

"The Hive shouldn't be on Earth." Athena said.

"It's been centuries." Silvia said.

"I'm sending a report to the Vanguard." Seraph said. "We'll be able to relax as soon as we land."

"Good job guys." Sara said as they were transmatted to their ships and made their way home.

It was a silent trip, until about halfway, when Zavala came on the comms.

"Fireteam Mythic, we received your…rather disturbing report. Congratulations on a job well done. There is one last thing. Please go see the Speaker when you return. He's asked for the three of you personally. Zavala out." He said

"So, who said about relaxing when we land?" Theoduin said.

"Not me." Athena replied.

"Yeah yeah laugh it up." Seraph said as Sara chuckled. The three landed at the hanger and made their way to where the Speaker waited.

"So, what's the Speaker like?" Sara asked.

"Dunno, never met him." Alsyf said.

"He's a Warlock, that's all I know." Theoduin said.

"Huh, hopefully this is a good thing." She said. The three walked into a large room, with a strange device in the middle, lined up with the Traveler. They walked up to the edge and looked out.

"Welcome, Guardians." A soft spoken voice said. The three turned to see a man clad in white robes and bits of armor. And a white mask. "I'm sure you have, many questions. None of you being woken for a year." He said walking to the group. "And one of you, but barely a child." He said. She could feel him looking at her.

"Do you know about the Hive sir?" Theoduin asked.

"Yes…everything is pointing to one outcome. The Darkness is returning." He said. The three looked at each other, then back to him. He looked to the Traveler. "And unless the Traveler wakes, we will not survive." He said.

"Can, we do anything?" Alsyf said.

"Yes, of course you can Guardians." He said and looked to them. "Push back against the Dark. Route it out wherever it hides and show it what wielders of Light can do. And most importantly, take care of each other. It's what Fireteams do." He said. Sara gave a smile.

"Fireteam Mythic stands ready sir!" She said. The old Warlock gave a lighthearted laugh.

"Mythic hmm? I like this recent practice. Well, join your fellow Guardians Fireteam Mythic. Push back the Dark. Be saviors of the Light." He said and went towards the stairs as the group left the building.

"He was nice." Sara said.

"Scary in his honesty." Theoduin said.

"We need those reminders. Either way, I'm going to turn in, catch you guys later." Alsyf said taking a turn down a hallway.

"Wanna go for a drink Sara?" Theoduin asked. Sara shook her head.

"No way, we met the Hive! I have to study!" She said like an excited kid.

And compared to how Theoduin had just over a head of height on her she may as well be.

"Cute, Catch ya later then." He said and walked off. Sara smiled and went to her room.

This'll probably be another all-nighter.

* * *

DWA: lovin the longer chapters I'm putting out, much more fun I think!


	4. An Old Mind

DWA: Happy to say I'm enjoying what I'm doing with this, and that's not just breezing through the missions only. But hey don't forget to drop a review, whether it's criticism or just to say what ya liked, I welcome them all the same!

 **Chapter 4: An Old Mind**

* * *

Sara sat down her book. This one was about Toland's theories on the Hive. It was interesting.

"I'm not sure I like how into the Hive studies you're getting." Seraph said.

"Know thy enemy Seraph!" She said happily.

"There's knowing them, and then making your bed with them." He said.

"You don't even get what that means." She said.

"No but I know enough to warn you about what happened to Toland." He said as Sara got up.

"Sure sure, I'll be careful." She said and pat his shell as she walked out.

"So where are you going?" He asked.

"For a walk, come on!" She said and just strolled along. Seraph sighed and vanished.

"You worry too much." She said.

" _The fact you read so much into Sword Logic has me worried."_ He said.

"It's interesting but I don't think Guardians can use it." She said.

" _Still Toland was exiled for a reason."_

"Yeah? I don't think he should have been. He had every right to try and figure out how the Hive worked. We could have found a way to break it." She said. "Just, make him work outside the city?"

" _The Speaker wouldn't like to hear that."_ Seraph said. Sara shrugged as she walked along, eventually finding herself in the Tower hanger. She sat around watching the ships come and go. She suddenly felt a heavy hand on her shoulder and a Titan in Blue green armor sat by her. He was Human. Fair Skin, light beard and pretty short hair with brown eyes.

"Enjoying the ship show?" He asked.

"I suppose so, just relaxing." She said.

"I can tell. I like to come here before missions. Helps me focus." He said. He held out his hand. "I'm Blitz." She smiled and shook his hand. "Sara." She said.

"Ah, From Mythic?" He asked.

"Oh I don't wanna be famous!" She said laughing.

"Too late. Nice work with the Archon." He said punching her shoulder.

"I just wanna do my research and help the city without the fame." She said bashfully.

"What research?" He asked.

"Oh uhm, Fallen Dialects and speech patterns. Trying to learn Eliksni." She said. Seraph appeared.

"She wants to one day forge an alliance with the Fallen." He said. Blitz's Ghost appeared with a Green shell.

"If any species would, it's the Fallen." The male Ghost said.

"Jericho has a point." Blitz said. "They just want to have the Traveler's Blessings again. Working with us may be the first step." He said.

"Yo, Blitz!" A voice said, and Sara looked to see an Exo Warlock and Awoken Hunter. The Warlock was talking. "We gotta go!"

"Yeah yeah, coming Fluff." He said and started walking over.

"Fluff?" Sara asked, rather confused.

"Yeah he won't tell us either." The Hunter said. The three made their way to their ships and took off. Their ships were rather nice…Sara needed to do work on hers. She stood and went over to Holliday.

"Amanda!" She said. Amanda turned and smiled.

"Hey Guardian, what can I do ya for?" She asked.

"Next time you do maintenance on my ship maybe we could…work on some upgrades?" She asked.

"Ohhh, I get ya. Something else to do besides bury yourself in books Warlock? You had the Arcadia class yeah? Sure, we can turn her into a right beast. Ya know? The Vanguard's ships are all Arcadia class." She said.

"Really!?" She said.

"Dunno how it happened, but they're all pretty different, from modifications they asked for. Cayde worked on his too. Ask him for advice sometime. But I have other ships to work on. Some other time Guardian. Uh, name? Haven't talked much." She asked sheepishly.

"Sara." She said with a small laugh.

"Alright Sara, have a good one." She said. Sara smiled and started to walk off, until Seraph spoke up.

" _Message from the Vanguard, a new mission in the Cosmodrome, Suit up!"_ Seraph said and her clothes turned into her armored robes and she sighed.

"Here we go." She said. As she ran back to the Hanger. Alsyf and Theoduin showed up soon.

"Wow, you're here first." Alsyf said. "Congratulations."

"Oh har har, I just happened to be nearby. She said as she walked over to her ship.

"And not nose deep in a book." Theoduin said.

"Let's just go." She said as she was moved to the cockpit. She saw her teammates vanish as her ship started to take off. The three made their way to the Cosmodrome.

" _How's the nerves?"_ Seraph asked.

"Fine, I'm used to it." She said smiling. Silvia came on over the comms.

"Okay guys! Vanguard is reporting that Fallen are all over every machine in the Cosmodrome. If it has electricity running through it and a circuit board they want it. We're supposed to just go out and mess them up, but me and Theoduin talked and, well…" She trailed off.

"They're looking for something. This aint a smash and grab." He said.

"And how would you know that?" Alsyf asked.

"Trust me, salvage looks like this sure but, they're leaving things behind according to the reports. They're hunting, and what I say is we find what they want, and make sure they can't have it. By stealing it or breaking it." He said.

"That's…actually really good. We're going with that Theoduin." Sara said. "Well, I should ask Alsyf too." She said sheepishly.

"Fine by me, it'll be us killing Fallen either way." He said.

"Got a point. So, let's get their quicker." She said taking the controls.

" _Traveler don't do it!"_ Seraph said as she punched the accelerator. The three ships took off at higher speeds.

They arrived about an hour earlier and transmatted to the ground.

" _I hate it when you do that."_ Seraph said.

"Baby. Okay, where to?" She asked as Seraph came out.

"I'm, picking up Fallen activity at the Forgotten Shore. But that's a few miles out. Guardians set up a Vehicle Grid nearby. We hook up to that and we can summon the Sparrow." He said. "I'll mark it on your HUD, time to walk!" He said flying back into Sara.

"Yeah for us." Alsyf said. The three made their way to a small shack near the Mothyards. Some Guardians were fighting some Fallen that were mining Glimmer.

"Why don't we do that?" Theoduin asked.

"We have a mission." Alsyf said.

"No mine up Glimmer! Millionaires overnight!" He said and Sara smacked him in the head.

"Valid point but I'm sure the Vanguard won't like it." She said as they came up to a terminal.

"There's the link." Athena said as she came out. Silvia and Seraph came out and they all started working. They all vanished at around the same time.

" _Linked, walk outside and summon your Sparrow."_ Seraph said. The three walked out and summoned their Sparrows. Sara spent a couple minutes getting used to the controls, nodded and they all took off.

Sara could feel the speed, she laughed over the comms.

"Rookie!" Theoduin said as he took a hard turn.

"Brake while turning Sara!" Alsyf said as he took that turn too. Sara hit the brakes as she turned to drift into the small canyon. Theoduin and Alsyf took the road while Sara took the water path.

Took a few minutes for them to reach the Forgotten Shore. Some old Boats washed up and rusted.

"There, in the large one just ahead, got a signal, being amped." Alsyf said. They got close to the ship and dismounted their Sparrows. Suddenly arc shots landed all around them, and on them.

"Aw what dicks!" Theoduin said as he rushed in, using his Lift to get up and slammed a Dreg in the face, a blast of Arc energy surging forth from him, knocking back dregs. Alsyf jumped up after, using a platform of Light to get to the roof of the cabin as Sara floated up next to Theoduin and popped the dregs as Theoduin took out the vandals with his Auto Rifle. Heavy shots were heard as Alsyf was using his Hand Cannon to take down other Vandals.

Sara smiled as she gathered void energy and tossed a Vortex Grenade to the other side of the ship,. A Captain ran out from cover to get away from the grenade. She pulled out her fusion rifle and blasted out Arc energy to destroy its shields, as Theoduin killed it.

"This is getting easy." Sara said as she went to the Transmitter. Seraph materialized and started scanning the Fallen device.

"Hmm, not getting enough, wait, second Amplifier in the complex at the end of the shore!" Seraph said. Alsyf came up on comms.

"I see it, I got you covered, have fun." He said as a sniper shot rang out. Sara and Theoduin shrugged and ran over to the complex. There were Arc shots flying over them heading to Alsyf.

"They have really bad aim. Woah! Hey they have a sniper! He hit me!" He said sounding happy.

"So shoot him back." Sara said as she took cover. Theoduin took cover beside her. Sara poked out and surveyed the area.

"Plenty of cover, I'll clear the area." She said as Void Light covered her. She ran out and jumped into the air before launching a Nova Bomb. It landed in between most of the enemies, killing them as they disintegrated, and a massive Vortex effect was created, Vandals and Dreg's backing away. From the back of the complex Shanks started flying out and flying high to shoot down on them.

"I got this Theoduin, break them!" She shouted as she took cover and started shooting the shanks, a well-placed shot from her Scout Rifle killing a Shank each. Theoduin pulled out her shotgun and charged forth, blasting Vandals as he passed. Alsyf had been taking care of stragglers.

He turned the corner only to get his gun bashed away and cut by twin electrified swords of a Captain. Theoduin replied with a Storm Fist, breaking its shield before getting pinned by the Captain and a sword going into his gut.

"Oww fuuck, bit of help!" He called out as the captain roared in his face.

"Move your head!" Alsyf said over comms. Theoduin did his best to tilt his head. Suddenly the Captains head exploded as ether sprang froth. The body crumped in a heap. Theoduin pulled the sword out and looked back to see a space the size of his hand behind him, and the glint of Alsyf's scope in the distance.

"Nice shot." Theoduin said as he pulled the sword out of his gut. Silvia healing the damage as Sara walked past him to the second transmitter. "No, hey are you okay Theoduin?" He asked.

Sara pulled out Seraph and sent him to work. "You're up and standing so you're clearly fine." She said.

"Still." He huffed and crossed his arms. Sara laughed as Seraph finished scanning.

"Same transmission but…linked to something in the Skywatch? There's an entrance here in the Shore. Marking it." He said and vanished. Theoduin and Sara mounted up and sped towards the other end of the shore, eventually coming up to a loading bay. Alsyf was waiting on the bed of an old truck.

"What took you guys?" He asked. Sara could almost feel the smug smile.

"You have a head start." Theoduin said. Alsyf laughed and hopped up and got out his hand cannon and walked in. Sara and Theoduin readied their primaries and walked in as well, almost immediately encountering fallen. These were easily dispatched by the three, no powers necessary. They were about to move on before Sara noticed the color.

"Hold on…yellow? House of Kings?" She asked.

"Yeah so?" Theoduin said.

"House of Devils was outside, guess they were trying to mooch off the King's work." She said. She looked up and saw Alsyf, fidgeting. "You good?" She asked.

"Somethings off…I'll be fine." He said and walked ahead. Theoduin and Sara shrugged as they looked at each other and followed. They came to a room inside a larger room, with Fallen noticing their presence and shooting. The three took cover.

"Is this the off feeling?" Sara asked as she popped out of cover and took down two dregs in the far side of the room.

"No but I'll go find out." He said and ran out of the room and Athena came up on comms.

"The Fallen are tapped into a device in the back of the room." She said in her normal near monotone voice. This was followed by several grunts of pain. "Also Alsyf has encountered Vandals that use stealth technology. Several lacerations and-"

"I'm gonna fuckin die! Ow you fuck!"

"I got the device." Sara said and rushed out with her fusion rifle and took out the captain. Several shotgun blasts filled the room. Sara looked over to see Alsyf getting revived. Sara once again sent Seraph to work on the device, a large spherical object.

"Looks like a simple data tap with, wow some really serious work arounds. But whatever they're accessing has something fighting back with teeth, nails, and even the table legs. This will take some time." He said.

"Hopefully not long! Sara Fallen incoming!" Theoduin said as he hopped a small wall, Alsyf doing the same and stacking up.

"Dig in boys!" Sara said. Several shanks and Dregs came out of the wood works as well as two vandals. Sara started making quick work of the Shanks, Theoduin taking down the Dregs.

Two shots rang out from Alsyf's rifle, the Vandals falling, only for more Fallen to fill the room. Two captains even came in, then all the Fallen took a purple hue, a purple glowing orb in the opposite end of the room, no two!

"Servitors! They're buffing the Fallen!" She said and ducked as a void blast splashed against her wall. She peeked out to see a large captain giving orders.

"A Baron too?" Alsyf!" She said. All three were in cover. Alsyf bent forward a bit to look at her.

"Light 'em up, Golden Gun!" She shouted. He nodded and stood up and held his hand up to form the Golden Hand cannon. He fired three shots, two into the Servitors, and one into the Baron, and then had to duck. Theoduin was taking out the smaller enemies, but was having difficulties with their newfound resistances.

"Well?" Sara asked.

"Still up." Alsyf said pulling out his sniper and peeking out, firing twice before getting slammed with two Void blasts, stumbling back and falling down. "Ow."

Sara peeked over to see the Servitors cracked and weakened. The Baron wasn't around, or was hiding. Sara took shots at one Servitor, and with Theoduin focusing in on it, the Servitor exploded, the other seeming to make an angry groaning noise. A shot hit that one directly in the eye, causing it to explode as well.

"Take the rest out!" She said and stood up, only to see a Baron in her face.

"…Hello." She said in Eliksni. The Baron roared in her face and grabbed her.

"Help!" She shouted before she was tossed across the room.

"Sara!" Theoduin said and hopped the wall to be beset upon by Dregs, Shanks keeping Alsyf down. Sara got up and shook her head to see the Baron rush her with swords. She got out her Fusion rifle and blasted its shields away, but had to duck under a swipe and run away to charge another shot. The Baron switched to a Shrapnel Launcher and fired the heavy rounds, blasting away at her. Suddenly a loud roar was heard and Sara saw Theoduin rush by.

"Get back ugly!" He said and jumped up as Arc gathered upon him. He slammed into the Head of the Baron, the electricity arcing across the room as the Baron disintegrated.

"..I hope you were talking about the Baron." Sara said as she stood up and replaced the battery in her rifle. Theoduin sighed.

"Nah, definitely you blue girl." He said.

"Teal, I'm Teal." She said.

"Blue." Was his simple reply.

"So I pulled all they got from this." Seraph said and the top of the machine moved up to reveal the innards of the machine. "Alsyf, do you mind?" He asked. Alsyf pulled out his hand cannon and shot the machine until it sparked and exploded.

"They didn't get much." Seraph said flying over to Sara. "They kept hitting an old earth firewall. Russian. Records say the Iron Lords encountered this too. Rasputin, a Warmind. Golden Age. Faced the Darkness and survived, and may be protecting something here in the Cosmodrome. We have to properly contact him at some point." He said.

"Can we go home before that?" Alsyf said as he stretched.

"Yeah, we should report this." Theoduin said. Sara nodded and the three of them transmatted to their ships and made the trip back to the Tower. It was late when they got back. The group made their way to the Vanguard Hall, Sara did her standard wave to Shaxx.

"Hello again Guardian." He said with a wave. Sara smiled. His voice made him, much less imposing. They walked in to see the three doping their own thing.

"Oh hey, Mythic's here." Cayde said. "So, what were the Fallen after?" He asked.

"We're not sure but, what they had to try and get by is more interesting." Alsyf said.

"Rasputin was blocking them at every turn." Sara said.

"Rasputin?" Ikora said.

"So, he resurfaces after all this time." Zavala said. "What was he guarding?" He asked. Seraph appeared by Sara.

"You think I can hack past a Warmind?" He asked with a tone that's said 'are you kidding me?'

"That's…fair." Zavala said. "Either way, excellent work today Guardians. Go to Banshee and he will have something for all of you." He said.

"Then rest up we have another possible op for you tomorrow." Cayde said.

"If we don't then smile and enjoy a day off." Ikora said.

"Dismissed." Zavala said.

"Don't salute its way too old." Cayde said. "Oh! Secret handshake?" He said.

"No." Ikora and Zavala said. "Go before you get wrapped up in this." Ikora said. The three nodded and left.

They went up to Banshee who looked over and nodded. And laid down four weapons. Two rocket Launchers and two Machine Guns.

"Take your pick Guardians." He said. Alsyf and Theoduin took Rocket Launchers, and Sara took a Machine Gun.

"Nice." Theoduin said with glee.

"I'm happy with thus. However I have things planned. I'll catch you guys later!" She said. Sara waved to Alsyf and Theoduin and walked off. The two were going to hang out. Sara had…language studies and sleep to get. She looked up to the stars and smiled.

"We're doing well." She said and went to her room. She sat down and watched crucible matches, taking notes from how teams, or random guardians assembled into teams, worked together before trying to learn new words in Eliksni. She soon decided to head to bed.

She climbed into bed and looked up at the ceiling. She wondered if she'd have that dream again.

She hoped not as she slowly drifted into sleep.

* * *

DWA: I'm realizing how long this project will be. I'm liking that. Don't forget to leave reviews!


	5. The Array

DWA: Hey All, shows I'm still having fun with this series eh? Honestly it keeps dawning on me how long this will take to just get through D1's vanilla content and I'm baffled.

 **Chapter 5: The Array**

* * *

Sara's sleep was thankfully uninterrupted as she woke up and she sat up and stretched. "No dream, felt like I was jinxing myself." He said as Seraph floated away from the terminal.

"Morning Sara. Message from the Vanguard came in around 4 AM." He said.

"They're awake at that time?" She asked as she stood up.

"It's from Cayde." He said.

"Oh that makes sense. What's the message?" She asked. Seraph opened his shell as his eye was surrounded in blue light and the message played.

"Hey Mythic, so about that thing we told you? Yeah gear up around noon. Basically Dead Orbit hired Guardians to open an old Array at the Skywatch and they never reported in. Three objectives. Bring them home. Alternately, bring home their ghosts. If ya can, open that array. Vanguard can use it as well as DO. Might get sad, don't let it get you down….okay we good Sundance? Finally! I'm gonna take a nap and pawn this duty on Ikora next time." Seraph closed his shell.

"I guess Sundance like's pranks?" She asked.

"She loves Cayde but isn't above, over recording. Cayde originally set out to be a serious Vanguard but, Sundance put an end to that by extending a recording for the Tower's PA." He said.

"How long did it take for her to do that?" She asked as she got dressed.

"Two days. Sundance hates serious Cayde." He said.

Sara sighed. "So…wanna go bother Theoduin and Silvia?" She asked.

"…Yes. Yes I do." He said. The two used the directory to find his room and rushed to it. The door easily opened to Theoduin watching a movie. Looked….really old. She crept over and saw it looked like a horror movie. She leaned in and shouted in Eliksni. "Hello!" It was the word she could easily pronounce.

"OH FUCK!" He nearly screamed and she got a well-deserved Storm Fist that sent her to the wall.

"Owww." She said laughing as her jaw set and healed thanks to Seraph. Theoduin paused the movie.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" He shouted standing on his couch. Sara laughed harder and that got Seraph laughing too. Theoduin sighed and plopped down on the couch.

"Fuckin ass." He said. She sighed and walked over and leaned on the couch and surveyed the room. Strings with lights were all over, walls and ceilings giving a modest glow. Several broken statues of science fiction and mythology, even some artwork.

"Wow, artsy." She said.

"Yeah yeah I collect a lot. I had plenty of time back in America." He said

"The drawings?" She asked.

"Me…probably some kinda remnant of code from my life as a human." He said. He unpaused the movie. Some, black monster stalking someone out in space.

"Creepy." She said.

"Awesome you mean…but creepy works too. Sit." He said. Sara hopped the couch and sat by him.

"You get the message?" She asked.

"From Cayde? Yep. Thought I'd watch this before we head out. Finally got all the movies in this cinematic universe so I thought I'd start." He said.

"Binge watch night tonight. I'll bring snacks." She said.

"Invite Alsyf too." He said.

"DuhOH SHIT!" She said jumping as the creature popped out with a loud noise. Theoduin laughed at her.

"Hush." She said lookin embarrassed. The two watched the rest of the movie, sequel baiting hard.

"Time to get ready." Theoduin said as he stood and his armor formed on him. The hard material bumping against itself and…clacking like hard plastics. Sara had her robes form as she stretched.

"Alsyf'll be ahead of us I'm sure." She said as she walked out with Theoduin in tow. A familiar Exo was walking down the hallway.

"Hey Fluff! How'd the mission go?" She asked.

"Damn well, in and out. Simple." The exo said as he passed. Theoduin stopped and looked back.

"Fluff?!" He exclaimed.

"Don't know and he won't tell. Met him yesterday." She said walking. Theoduin jogged to catch up shaking his head. The two got the Hanger, and as expected. Alsyf was lying on the top of his ship.

"About time." He said sitting up.

"Quiet. The three of us are having a movie night after this." Sara said.

"What?" He asked.

"This isn't for debate Alsyf. The three of us are gonna sit down and watch scary movies all night." Theoduin said as he was transmatted to his ship. Sara followed suit as Alsyf simply hopped in through the cockpit window.

"So I don't have a choice?" Alsyf asked.

"No." Sara and Theoduin said.

"Alright, I'll bring popcorn." He said laughing as the ships took off. They flew in relative silence, mostly catching a nap. The three got dropped off in front of the Skywatch.

"So, through here?" Theoduin said.

"The last known signal of the Guardians was past where we fought the Wizard." Athena said. "A clearing between buildings."

"Let's move team!" Sara said as she jogged forward.

"So, she's already doin the work." Theoduin said comms off.

"Yeah, she seems to like it too." Alsyf said jogging to catch up, Theoduin following. The three eventually got back to the rooms they encountered the Hive in.

"This stuff is nasty…" Alsyf said poking it with his knife, black vicious liquid leaking.

"According to the Vanguard the Hive have just been spilling onto the surface since we interrupted them. The Fallen have been rather busy. Bet you we have to deal with that." Silvia said.

"Great." Sara said. They came outside and it was a skirmish, Fallen and Hive.

"The Ghosts are in the clearing like Athena said, start searching!" Seraph said. Sara started looking around for a body, Alsyf went ahead to a small shed, and soon spoke over comms.

"Found one…dead Ghost. No codes or anything. Keep looking." He said.

"If one's dead…" Sara said as she stepped on something hard. She moved her foot, to see a Ghost. She picked it up and sighed.

"Two, Seraph?" She asked as Seraph appeared.

"No codes, keep looking." He said. Sara pockted the dead ghost. "Rest in peace Guardian." She said. Suddenly a thin line of blue passed her helmet. She immediately ducked into cover. "Focus on the Hive assholes!" She shouted, getting a laugh from Alsyf and Theoduin. She started firing back as Theoduin came on comms.

"Got codes, Fireteam deceased. Silvia says we can activate the array ourselves now." He said. More gunfire joined Sara's as they punched a hole through the Fallen and made it into the complex, and found even more fallen.

"Kings!" Alsyf shouted as he took off the head of a Dreg. Theoduin charging through and tossed a ball of lighting. The grenade exploded, once, twice, thrice, and so on. A Pulse Grenade. It got a good chunk of the Fallen. They fought their way to a large open area, and went to a building. Theoduin rushed in and cleared out the inside with a combination of Storm Fist, Shotgun shells, and well, fists.

"We have you covered!" Sara said stacking up next to the large doorway inside. Alsyf stacked the other side. Theoduin released Silvia and she started inputting the codes.

"Let's see about these codes! So, input this, negotiate cryptosystems, uhm, bypass that, Shor-resistant security systems. Got it! Outside!" She said. Theoduin ran over to see the large Array started to ascend a bit and open. Their victory was cut short by a terrible screeching, like nails on a chalkboard.

"Tombships!" Sara shouted. Theoduin stacked behind her as she crouched to make room for him. The ships expelled a large amount of dust and suddenly Thrall and Acolytes where showing up.

"Don't let them get to Silvia!" He said.

"Please! I'm still working and monitoring things back here!" She shouted. The three let loose a hail of bullets, taking them out as void splashed on the shields of their armor.

"I'm gonna get on top of the building and snipe!" Alsyf said.

"Let me help!" Sara shouted. She and Alsyf ran out and Sara grabbed him and used her glide to gain height and she did her best to throw Alsyf…it didn't do what she hoped. Still, Alsy used her hand to jump off, then made a jet of Light as a second jump and grabbed the roof and pulled himself up. Sara landed and stacked where he used to be.

"Hey what is _that_?" Theoduin said, and rushing their position was a large Hive. Heavily armored and carrying a sword.

"Knight! Kill it!" Sara shouted.

"No shit!" Theoduin shouted back and fired at it, Sara doing the same as Alsyf kept the pressure off. The Knight Ran through it and swung at Sara, she jumped back and what should have been a blunt hit from the look of the weapon cut deep. She screamed and fired more as the knight backhanded her and sent her across the room. Something blue slammed into its head, Theoduin's Pulse Grenade. The third pulse killed it. Sara looked down to see her armor cut and her bleeding back, but she was healing.

"Fuck! That really hurts!" She hissed and ran to the wall, slamming into it instead of just stacking up.

She looked out to see many little robots exploding on some hive. Alsyf's new Swarm Grenade.

"How you doing?" Theoduin called out as he shot down some thrall. She looked out and saw a Wizard and three Knights, two with swords.

"Horrible!" She shouted. She heard a blast above them. One knight with a sword went down and the Wizard flew out of the way of the second shot, and the second Knight called up a black shield to block the third before rushing the door with a swarm of thrall.

"Oh fuck this!" She shouted and ran out and jumped up, charged void light in her right hand, and threw it, Nova Bomb. It hit the Knight and exploded, disintegrating. Sara landed and laughed. Then a small boom was heard, and a screeching noise. A blob of blue-white was arcing through the sky before landing beside her and exploding. "Oh come on!" She said as more landed around her. The Acolytes and the Knight were using weapons she knew as Boomers. She ran in and took cover as the boomers landed around her and Theoduin.

"I'm on it!" Alsyf came on the comms and more sniper fire could be heard.

"I got the fucking Knight." Theoduin said as he pulled out his rocket launcher. He spun around the corner, aimed and fired. The noise of the rocket being fired wasn't as loud as Sara thought it would be. The knight roared as it was hit by the rocket, falling to one knee before being sniped by Alsyf. The Wizard screeched and put up a fog on Alsyf and hit Theoduin with Darkness Blasts.

"Blinded here!" Alsyf said.

"Pinned, Sara, test out your Machine gun!" Theoduin said. Sara nodded and pulled out the heavy weapon, rolled out of cover and lied prone to stabilize the weapon. She pulled the trigger and the gun fired rapidly. Even like this the recoil was harsh, but she saw the shields of the Wizard fail, and she kept firing until the Wizard let out its death shriek. She looked up and the Array was fully open.

"Hey guys, you gotta see this!" Silvia said. Alsyf landed on the ground and the three walked to the back. On different screens were different planets. Venus, Mars, and Luna, Earth's moon.

"So, the Array was almost instantly taken over by Rasputin. Aaaand he's reconnecting to the Warmind network at blazing speeds." She said.

"That's good right?" Alsyf said.

"It would be if he didn't basically tell me to shut my mouth when I asked him if he'd ever help us. At least it wasn't a no?" She said.

"Probably good and bad." Theoduin said.

"Either way, he's connecting to a lot of things. Defense systems mainly. Something has to be out there we can use." She said.

"Either way, job done. Let's go home." Sara said. The three teleported to their ships and took off for home.

The flight home felt short as they reached the Hanger. The three appeared down below and stretched.

"Swords fucking hurt…" Sara said putting a hand on where she was cut.

"Still hurts?" Theoduin asked.

"Aches. I guess it was a Dark weapon." She said and walked alongto the Vanguard hall.

"I'll be sure to keep my distance." Alsyf said following. The three walked down, Shaxx waving to them before Sara had a chance. Sara smiled and waved back. They walked in to what seemed like a meeting.

"We gotta keep doing ops in the Cosmodrome, the Devil's are getting aggressive." Zavala said.

"Blame all the new Guardians, they're desperate. Plus they did lose an Archon, oh, speak of the Devils." He said noticing the Fireteam. Ikora rolled her eyes.

"How did it go?" Ikora asked.

"Well, we found their ghosts, and activated the array." Alsyf said.

"As we thought." Zavala said looking down.

"Sadly it happens, good job picking up where they left off. Probably weren't ready for the Hive." Cayde said. The three nodded.

"Also Rasputin took the opportunity to, well he took the Array." Theoduin said.

"Ooh, Dead Orbit's not gonna be happy." Cayde said.

"Rasputin's gotten bold. Now he can spread." Zavala said with a worried look to Ikora.

"I'll be sure to keep an eye out. Guardian's, dismissed, take a few days off." She said. The three looked at each other.

"Movie night!" Sara said with a fist in the air.

"I'll get snacks. Requests?" Alsyf said as they all left. The Vanguard looked at each other.

"So, we're throwing them to this?" Ikora said.

"Devil's hate them, they do this and they'll fear them." Cayde said.

"That may be, but, to send them after Sepiks." Zavala said. "That could mean their death."

"How about this. When the Strike is ready, we ask them." Ikora said. "And we explain the dangers."

"And if they don't go for it Fireteam Blitzkrieg should be up for it as well." Cayde said.

"Then we have a plan of action. Now for the present." He said.

"You want a movie night don't you?" Ikora said.

"Oh! If we're doing movie night I'm bringing one!" Cayde said.

"Feel free Cayde. We don't relax enough these days." Zavala said with a smile.

"Yes! I'm getting some Ramen!" Cayde said and ran out.

Meanwhile, Sara was in her room, changing to her casual clothes.

"A few days off, what will you do?" Seraph asked.

"Work on my ship, brush up on more Eliksni, maybe try that ramen shop Cayde goes to." She said and sighed. "For now, I'm hanging with my Fireteam!" She said. She started to go to Theoduin's room.

She was genuinely happy, and when you fight for a living, well she knew that could change in an instant.

She was going to enjoy herself as long as she could.

* * *

DWA: Shorter chapter, but I still enjoyed writing about it. We all know what's coming next! Unless…you never played Destiny, but then you'd have almost no idea what's going on. Oh well, don't forget to Review!


	6. The Devil's Lair

DWA: Hey all, glad so many people are enjoying this series! Means a lot since I was primarily a Pokemon fic writer. Please enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Devil's Lair**

Sara woke up with a gasp. Familiar cold sweat and heavy breathing. She looked out her window, a cloudy day.

Her dream once again, same words, same results.

"Something feels off…" She said as Seraph floated over.

"It's almost time, you sure you're ready?" He asked. She sighed and shook off her sleep.

"Yeah." She said.

 _Several days later_

"A, strike?" Theoduin asked.

"Correct. A mission that has much more tactical meaning, but are much harder." Zavala said.

"What's the goal?" Alsyf asked.

"We plan to throw the House of Devils into pure chaos." Ikora said.

"Sepiks Prime, the model all Devil Servitors are based off of is the target Guardians." Cayde said.

"A Prime!?" Sara said, a mix of excitement and fear. "Those are, the most powerful Servitor's that a House has." She said.

"Exactly. Take it down and there goes a lot of Ether production, and the Kell has to deal with that somehow." Cayde said.

"And that's why it will be heavily defended." Zavala said. "Far more than anything you've previously encountered."

"We'd understand if you didn't feel like you were ready." Ikora said.

"So think it over or do what you need to." Cayde said. Sara looked to her teammates, Alsyf smiled, and Theoduin nodded. Sara gave a determined smile.

"We're in!" She said.

"Such determination." Ikora said nodding.

"Alright! We have mountains of paperwork to do then while you get yourselves psyched up!" Cayde said.

"Guardians, you set out in five days at 0900. Understand?" Zavala said.

"Yes sir!" They all replied.

"Don't do that, it's creepy." Cayde said.

"Dismissed Guardians." He said.

 _Present day_

Sara got on all her gear and sighed. She hadn't been nervous until she lied in bed last night. She walked out and got in the elevator, as did another Awoken.

"Hey, going on a mission?" She asked. She was in casual clothes.

"Yep." She said.

"Wow you look nervous. Oh hey! You're in Mythic. What the Vanguard got ya hunting down the Kell now?" She asked laughing.

"Prime." She said as she inspected her rifle. She stopped laughing.

"Oh uh, that's ridiculous, you're still all green." She said. The elevator stopped and opened.

"My floor, hey, good luck. Name's Ash by the way, come home alright?" She asked walking out. She didn't turn to face Sara as the door closed.

Didn't help how anxious she was. The door opened at the Tower plaza and she walked to the Hanger, Alsyf and Theoduin were there.

"You ready?" Theoduin asked.

"No, but too late to get cold feet." She said.

"Right you are, no reason waiting. Let's do this!" Alsyf said as they all got put in their ships and took off. As they flew Zavala came on comms.

"The fallen will continue to claw at the walls of our city unless we strike them down. We found where the Devil's keep Sepiks Prime, their High Servitor. Destroy it, send the Devil's into chaos. Be Brave." He said before it cut off.

They sat in silence before Alsyf spoke up.

"Sara, me and Theoduin have a proposal for you." He said.

"It's not our hands in marriage." Theoduin said. Sara laughed. That, really helped.

"What is it?" She asked.

"Fireteam's have a leader normally. Some don't but I think we need one." He said.

"Congrats on the promotion. You don't get a pay raise." Theoduin said.

"Wait, me?" She asked.

"Yeah, seem to be good at it. So it's mostly just for records. I like the way we operate." Alsyf said.

"I…well I can't say no can I?" She said.

"No." Alsyf said.

"Not a chance in hell." Theoduin said.

"Then I accept." She said.

"Right, now, let's just get there quickly." Alsyf said.

"Loud and clear!" Theoduin shouted. Silvia came on their comms.

"Don't you dare!" She shouted as she saw Theoduin's ship blast by. Sara laughed and punched it. They arrived in no time.

The three were dropped off near a refinery, and checked their weapons.

"We got this." Sara said and ran inside, Theoduin and Alsyf behind her. Gunfire filled the building.

"Hive and Fallen skirmish ahead." Athena said.

"Let's take advantage of that." Alsyf said as he ran the corner into the firefight, and unloaded into the hive. Theoduin charged the fallen in the back, Sara cleaning the stragglers. They cleared the next room and went to advance before several lasers appeared.

"You, think they're mines?" Sara said looking around.

"…I need to do this." Theoduin said and ran into them and was vaporized, Silvia appearing where he was standing. Sara and Alsyf just stared and then started laughing. Sara rezzed Theoduin, who started laughing with them.

"Why did you do that!?" Alsyf asked.

"We could have cut the tension with a knife! I needed stress relief!" Theoduin replied.

"So you walk into a laser grid!?" Sara asked.

"Yes!" Theoduin shouted. "Silvia, work on the door?" He asked as Silvia appeared by a control terminal and started to work on it.

"Huh, rather complex, I'll need time." She said. Sara looked around at the room.

"Yeah, Alsyf, up top, Theoduin, get ready." She said Alsyf nodded and double jumped up to a catwalk as Fallen started to pour into the room, shanks charging their position.

"Predictable." She said as she crouched down and started picking off the shanks as arc bolts flew past her.

"Come on ya bastards!" Theoduin said as he started shooting down the dregs. Sara was hit by a hard Arc bolt.

"Sniper!" She said and ducked behind a shipping crate. Alsyf's rifle shot cracked in the room.

"One, and two." He said as the shot sounded again. Sara peeked out of cover and assisted Theoduin, and soon between the three of them the group had fallen.

"I think the fallen are getting smarter! It's like the whole system, is wired to a-oops." Silvia said as an alarm sounded.

"Was that an oops I heard?" Alsyf asked.

"Nope, don't know what you're talking about. Shush I gotta work faster." She said. Sara looked to Alsyf and she shrugged. Alsyf gave one in return as he was almost hit by a Wire Rifle.

Sara formed a fractal image of Void light in her hand and tossed it to the advancing Dregs and shanks. The grenade detonated and split into more fractal squares, with had smaller detonations, but took out most of them.

"Nice now, help! I got three pinning me!" Alsyf sounded. She looked up to see three bolts of light pass by. She looked and aimed where they came from and carefully paced her shots, taking down one as Alsyf took the other two.

Theoduin ducked in cover with Sara.

"Hey." He breathed before peeking out to unload his clip.

"Using your back." Sara said and climbed on his shoulders. She was lucky he was a rather strong exo. She peeked over and started taking out Vandals. Two captains rushed out.

"Nade me!" She said. Theoduin tossed up a ball of lightning and Sara telekinetically boosted it by grabbing the air and acting like she threw a grenade to one of the captains. The initial explosion taking out its shields, the next two killing it. Sara pulled out her fusion rifle and blasted the other's shields off, Alsyf sniping it dead. The rest was clean up. Sara jumped down and looked over as the second layer of lasers turned off.

"How much longer?" Theoduin said walking out of cover.

"Almost done. But there's Fallen coming. Oh and Hive!" She said.

"Ah shit." Alsyf said as a Wizard's screech rang out. Sara came out of cover as the two species came out. Theoduin cocked his weapon and unloaded without much care for what he hit. Sara started picking off Acolytes and Vandals, letting Theoduin focus on the small fry. Suddenly she was being hit by blasts of arc energy.

"Dammit!" She said and jumped back to see a Wizard laughing at her, before it's shields were hit by a grenade, that split into several and they all tracked into it and detonated.

The next noise was its dying cry.

"Got you're back!" Alsyf said over comms. Soon just the fallen were left. And as they were shot down, four Arc grenades landed at Theoduin's feet.

"Oh fu-" They all exploded, sending him flying to the catwalk, dead. Sara looked out and saw a larger captain, red cape, giving a low guttural laugh.

"A Baron, somethings, different about him." She said as she resurrected Theoduin.

"The Devil's want their due." Alsyf said. "Focus fire." He said and the three opened fire. The Baron's shield took all of their shots, and was still up. The other fallen advanced as it walked towards them. The three reloaded and started taking out the rest.

The Baron watched, until it was alone.

"This is gonna suck." Alsyf said. As if on cue, it roared and teleported right to Theoduin and backhanded him into the laser grid and tried to use two of its swords to cleave Sara in well, three. Sara jumped back and blasted its shields with a Fusion rifle, the shield fizzing out. Sara heard a shot of Alsyf's sniper, and the damn thing had the nerve to flinch from the headshot. Sara charged another fusion shot and blasted its chest, only for it to put away its swords for a shrapnel launcher.

"God dammit." Sara said as it fired into her. She was pushed to the wall, and felt two sharp pains in her abdomen. "You're a dick." She coughed out as she felt the heat from its gun.

Alsyf heard the shots. Sara was dead.

And he was alone. He just needed to buy Silvia time to gather the light needed for a self rez. He jumped off the catwalk and unloaded his hand cannon into the Fallen. It spun and roared in response.

"Tough armor." He said and took off, the small red hot shards landing behind him as he jumped over the Truck, only to hear it bend under the Baron's weight. He looked behind him, it'd caught up. He threw a Knife, which missed the head and landed between the chest piece and the helm. It roared in pain.

"Good to know, you can bleed." He said and shot the Baron more as he back stepped. Behind the Baron he saw a Light.

"Sucks to be you." He said. The Baron ran at him, only to stop at the truck being crushed. It looked back to see Theoduin charged with Arc energy as he jumped at the Baron. The Baron roared as Theoduin crashed into it. The resulting arc explosion disintegrated the Baron.

Sara rezzed and shook her head as Silvia spoke up.

"Laser grid is down! We can go now." She said and vanished. The three met up by the door.

"So, step one done." Alsyf said. Now step two." Alsyf said. They walked along, taking out the small resistance on the way. They walked out into an open field. They got to the top of the hill where they could see a large six legged robot that pointed a main cannon at them.

"What is-" Sara started before Theoduin tackled them down, there was a massive explosion that broke their shields.

"Holy fuck that was close." Theoduin said as he got up.

"Theoduin what is that?" Alsyf said.

"Walker Tank. The most powerful weapon the Fallen can deploy." He said. "Rapid fire cannon, Followed by a medium burst cannon and a heavy main cannon. Also an arc pulse for pushing enemies away." He said.

"You sure know a lot about them." Sara said.

"I…fought one back in America, and I didn't kill it." He said. "But I learned how to kill it. Break it's legs, and it'll expose its neck." He said.

"Well Theoduin, you lead." Sara said. He nodded and looked around. Alsyf, there's a shack to our left, hide there, I'll distract in the middle. Sara, go right. It can shoot in two directions at once, so let's confuse it." He said. Sara and Alsyf looked at each other and nodded.

"Go!" He said and hopped out from cover and started unloading on some of the Fallen nearby, the Walker shooting its medium cannon charging up. Sara and Alsyf bumped their arms together as they ran by each other. Sara shot the left front leg as she ran, the main cannon turning and firing six shots of arcing plasma. She took cover as the burst against the ground. She then tossed her scatter grenade to the second floor of the small building she ran in, hearing the Fallen die as she took cover.

Alsyf wanted to shoot but refrained as he double jumped to a roof, and again to the small shack and he hid inside.

"Can't be seen, can't be heard. First time for that." He said as he put a lens on his rifle's scope, tinting it. He then put on a silencer and set up. He saw a captains shield go down, and he took its head clean off.

"I'm in position!" Sara said as the main cannon shot. The shell landed just around the corner. "And now I'm deaf!"

"In position." Alsyf said taking out Vandals that might pose a problem. Theoduin was running at the walker with a shotgun, the chin mounted gun spraying bolts at him. He was getting hit but he got close and fired three shells before it blasted him back with an arcwave. He landed on his feet and ducked into cover.

Sara pulled out her machine gun and came out of the corner and started unloading on the leg. Alsyf saw which leg she was shooting and started shooting it. Soon that leg detonated, the Walker making a seemingly pained groan as it fell, the front of the tank pushing forward to reveal a red hot core.

"That's the weak spot!" Theoduin shouted and ran ahead with his shot gun. Alsyf covered him as he drove his shotgun into the machinery and shot, Sara's scout rifle shots pinging beside him. As Theoduin was reloading the tank sent out an Arcwave and stood up and quickly aimed at Theoduin with its minigun and opened fire. Theoduin took heavy fire, his shields breaking as he took cover. In that second between his shields breaking and him taking cover he took several shots and was panting.

"Didn't do enough." Sara said as she shot the middle left leg. But the cannon didn't aim at her. It was aiming at…

"Alsyf run!" Sara shouted as the tank braced itself. Alsyf looked at the tank, only to be blinded by a red laser. The tank shot and obliterated the shack.

And Alsyf.

"Guardian down!" Seraph said.

Theoduin got out a Rocket Launcher and fired at a group of Fallen, killing most of them, as he got out his Auto rifle and charged the last few, the minigun firing at him as he ran at them. He got to the last Vandal and punched it with an Arc powered fist and quickly took cover.

"How'd it find him?" Sara shouted as she kept shooting but jumped back as the plasma bolts slammed into the ground.

"Dunno, maybe a captain." Theoduin said. He took out his Rocket Launcher and reloaded it.

"That really hurt." Alsyf said over comms. "How we doin?"

"Pinned help!" Sara shouted as she shot down some dregs that had rushed her. Theoduin fired the rocket at the Walker, the explosion stunning the beast, only for it to aim its main cannon at Theoduin.

"Theoduin run!" Alsyf shouted. The tank shot, and well.

The mess was all over.

"Yeesh." Alsyf said as he hopped down and shot some vandals heading to Sara.

"Theo's down." He said pressing against the wall.

Sara sighed. "I'll Nova Bomb the damn thing, when the core's open." She said. "I've been hitting the left middle leg, a rocket should do." She said as plasma bolts hit nearby, shaking the ground.

"Sure, but we need Theoduin to distract it, just a few seconds." He said as he peeked and was met with a hail of small plasma bolts, ducking behind cover.

Suddenly familiar gunfire was heard, Theoduin was back up. Alsyf took out his rocket and got ready. He peeked and saw the damaged leg and fired, the explosion destroyed the leg, and it exposed the core.

Sara put away her gun and ran out, charging Void in her right hand, landed on the core, and launched it, the explosion turning her world black.

She gasped as her world returned. "Did I get it!?" She said as she hopped up.

"Yes you crazy bitch you got it." Theoduin said patting her shoulder.

"Ammo?" Alsyf said checking his Hand cannon.

"Low." Sara said. The three had their ghosts collect ammo packs on the ground. "Medium." She said shrugging.

"It'll have to do." Theoduin said as he loaded his Auto Rifle. The three made their way inside, and it wasn't long before they came to a large room.

"All these skulls…" Sara said.

"All the more reason to do this." Alsyf said. The three came up to large doors, Theoduin forcing them open. There, with Fallen surrounding it, was a massive servitor.

It looked too them, and the fallen started, choking.

"It's…draining them." Sara said as the Fallen fell over. The Servitor made a…laugh, as its shell snapped down, and spikes came out of it. Sara looked at this, amazing piece of machinery, all the wonders of the Fallen.

A shame she couldn't study it. She took a deep breath.

"Here we go!"

* * *

DWA: Ahh cliffhangers, been a while since I did a proper one. Well, see you next time, don't forget to review!


	7. The Prime

DWA: Hope you guys are excited for the Sepiks Battle! Please do leave some feedback!

* * *

 **Chapter 7: The Prime**

The Servitor fired a large blast of Void plasma at the three, and they scattered. Theoduin right, Alsyf left, and Sara straight ahead as the projectile exploded where they stood. They all started shooting at the Servitor. The bullets pinging off its hard shell. Sara seemed to be too close for comfort as it opened its shell and started sucking up biological material to make ether.

Mainly Sara's body. She gritted her teeth and ran under it, taking the damage as a Pulse grenade hit its shell and started bursting. The machine groaned and suddenly teleported back, quite a distance too, causing Sara to suddenly stop and keep shooting at its eye. The servitor slowly opened its shell, gathering ether, then snapped it shut, sending a shockwave that burst all their shields.

"Fuck me!" Sara said and ran for cover as Sepiks sent void plasma at her.

"That better not be an offer!" Alsyf said as he took sniper shots at the eye.

"Traveler no!" Sara said as she panted behind a pole as Sepiks started shooting at Alsyf. The roar of a rocket ripped through the noise, as did the ensuing explosion. Sepiks roared out and shot a beam at Theoduin that connected with him. It whipped up, then down, taking Theoduin with it, the energy connecting to Theoduin detonating.

"Okay, I'm hurt." Theoduin groaned over comms, there was static as three explosions were heard.

"Don't say it!" Sara said. As she ran out as Alsyf took agro from Sepiks, but it didn't seem to care as charged energy before firing it at Sara, or rather, Silvia. The bolt was dark purple and slow. Sara rezzed Theoduin and shoved him away with her powers, only to get hit hard by the bolt.

Even at full shields, she was disintegrated.

She found herself in a vast nothingness, but, herself.

"This is new." She muttered. Then there was that horrible roar.

"Your fate, is not what you think." The voices said. She growled.

"And who are you to tell me that!?" She shouted. No response. There was a bright light as she gasped, and was tossed behind cover with Theoduin. "Thanks." She said as she stood up and got her Machine gun. "One mag." She said. She peeked and unloaded her mag into Sepiks, who roared and fired more shots. Sara took them, didn't hurt nearly as bad as she thought. She kept going till there were several clicks. She hit behind cover. Theoduin was gone, she could hear his auto rifle firing nearby.

"Goin golden!" Alsyf shouted and the sound of his Gun forming in his hand was heard all through the area. Sepiks looked over, only for three rapid shots to be put into its eye. It roared in pain and teleported right to him, and started using its vortex drain.

"Got no rockets!" Theoduin shouted. Sara threw a grenade. It exploded and caused the damaging vortex. Sepiks teleported to the middle and fired three rapid void blasts. The situation looked dire.

But seeing Alsyf's body fly over the wall just made things seem less dire.

"Holy shit he got air!" Sara said laughing. She shut up as she took cover.

"Aw man I didn't see it!" Theoduin said.

"Please resurrect my Guardian." Athena said with a tired tone.

"All in good time!" Sara said. Suddenly the crate she was against seemed to move as she fell back. Sepiks was lifting it with that beam.

Then the beam vanished. Sara yelped and rolled forward as it slammed into the ground.

"That was close!" She shouted and took off. "Keep the big guy busy!" She shouted as she passed Theoduin.

"Yeah more the same." Theoduin said as he unloaded his mag into Sepiks, who teleported next to him.

He swore there was malice in that purple light as its shell opened to do its close range attack.

Sara rezzed Alsyf, who shook his head. "How we doin?" He asked. There was a loud explosion. They looked to see that Theoduin had used his Fist of Havoc on Sepiks. Sepiks responded by using the beam to slam him in the wall, and started thrashing him around like a doll.

"Iffy, rocket the bastard!" She shouted and started shooting its shell. The blast of the rocket made her ears ring a bit. Sepiks slammed Theoduin down as the rocket hit. The beam vanished and Sepiks looked to the two. Silvia was over Theoduin's now corpse.

"I got him!" Sara said as Alsyf fired his last rocket, scoring a hit. Sepiks opened its shell, and snapped it shut, even behind cover the shockwave blasted her shields apart. She heard rapid shots, and three explosions as she rezzed Theoduin.

"Still with me?" Sara asked over comms.

"Barely, broke my arm with one shot. Ow! Set it right!" Alsyf said, presumably to Athena.

Sara looked at Sepiks, who did his little laugh. His armor was cracked. So they were hurting him. One victory.

"Sara. How's your super coming along?" Theoduin said as he got close to pump some shells into Sepiks, which replied with a Vortex.

"Nearly charged!" She said as she used her fusion rifle on Sepiks, charging and shooting on repeat until she ran out of battery, Sepiks took the opportunity to launch its beam at her. It grabbed her Fusion rifle and threw it into the water.

"Oh you massive dick." She said as she took cover, Sepiks had begun to shoot at her. She pulled out her Sawed off and holstered it properly, then got out her scout rifle. She then felt a click within her and grinned. "Okay jackass, see how ya like this!" She said and jumped up, gliding upwards as Void Light covered her body. She charged the Light into her hand and launched the Nova Bomb with a loud shout. The ball slammed into Sepiks, causing it to stagger and groan as the large Vortex damaged it, until it teleported back over the water. Sara landed.

"So, Sepiks still seems pretty pissed." Alsyf said as Sepiks shell slowly opened.

"Good, means we're doing something right!" Theoduin said and fired a Rocket at Sepiks, whose shell snapped shut, sending an Ether shockwave that broke their shields, as Sepiks took the rocket.

"Ammo's an issue though Theoduin!" Sara shouted as she started shooting with her rifle, the others shooting too. Sepiks started charging energy in its eye, the big attack again.

"Just keep fucking shooting until you need to move!" Sara shouted as she reloaded. A swarm grenade landed on Sepiks, and it was undisturbed by the small explosions as it fired the large blast, aimed between Sara and Theoduin. The two quickly ran from the blast, even with the time it still blasted off their shields.

"Jesus that's powerful." Theoduin said as Sepiks teleported closer. Theoduin rushed out and threw a Pulse Grenade and blasted its eye with his shotgun as he ran by, Sara tossed her Vortex grenade, and Sepiks was taking a lot of damage as it shot at Theoduin. Alsyf jumped up and tossed a knife, and made it between the shell, the internals taking Solar damage.

Sepiks replied by connecting its beam with his chest. It threw him around, slamming him into walls and such, before slamming him to the ground, the Void Explosion disintegrating his body.

"Alsyf! Shit." Sara said. "Get Alsyf!" Sara shouted and ran close and used her melee, Energy Drain, and she pulled out her sawed off as Sepik's eye seemed to glare at her. "Suck on this!" She shouted and pulled the trigger and was blasted back by the force, Sepiks roared in pain as it seemed to try and shake it off. Sara got up and reloaded her gun as fast as she could as she took cover.

"Jeez, Banshee supped you up huh?" She said as she holstered the weapon.

"I'm up!" Alsyf came over the comms, sounding as he was taking his first breath. The sound of his Hand cannon ringing out.

"Seraph, how's the ammo scrounging?" Sara asked.

"The three of us have done what we can, Fallen had lots of supplies here, you're all back up to near full." He said. Sara pulled out her machine gun and reloaded it. Two rockets sounded out, followed by two explosions as Sara turned the corner and unloaded, struggling to keep her aim on point. Sepiks suddenly teleported back and groaned, it was, pretty damaged.

"Fallen Skiffs coming in. Sepiks called for help." Athena said. Alsyf and Theoduin fired two more rockets. Sepiks roared as it was hit and started gathering energy for its shockwave, as the skiffs came in and unloaded dregs and vandals. It snapped shut and their shields burst as the Fallen rushed them. They all fired at the fallen as their shields came back.

There was a loud burst noise, and a dark purple light was flying towards Theoduin and Alsyf.

"Incoming!" Sara shouted to them. They ran, but were heavily wounded by the explosion. Alsyf was ganged up by three dregs, killing two before the last jammed a knife in his back.

Theoduin won his fight with two vandals only to be hit by shots from Sepiks. Sara mowed down the fallen with her Machine gun and started to make her way to them.

Then she heard Sepiks laugh as it materialized in front of her, and connected its beam to her waist.

"Oh shit…" She said and shot at Sepiks as it lifted her up. The beams intensity increased and her whole body felt as if it was on fire. She grit her teeth and pulled out her shotgun, and fired both barrels, pushing her back a bit and damaging Sepiks, but the beam was still connected. She was slammed into the ground, and thrown into a shipping container, then a wall, and was tossed about like a ragdoll. It lifted her high, and she did her best as she collected her light and tossed it to Sepiks, and the initial explosion caused the beam to vanish as she fell, her body was basically in pieces on the inside.

"Sara, hold on I'm working!" Seraph said as she felt her bones and wounds mend. Sara slammed her fists into the ground as she pushed herself up as Sepiks made what sounded like an angry noise as its shell opened up.

"Sorry Sepiks, I don't intend to die here." She said as she grabbed her sawed off and reloaded as the vortex surrounded her. Her strength was nearly gone but, she had one shot. She turned around and pulled the trigger, and flew past Sepiks, right to Silvia. She rezzed Theoduin and quickly stood through the pain, and rushed to Athena as Theoduin unloaded his shotgun into Sepiks. She rezzed Alsyf and fell to the ground, panting. She looked at Sepiks and it was backing away as it shot. Alsyf shot at its eye with a sniper.

Its shell was cracked all to hell, and sparks were coming off it. Her pain was dulling as she stood. "Theoduin! Havoc it!" She shouted. Theoduin took cover to recover his shields as he charged arc energy. Sepiks started to charge its heavy blast. Theoduin rushed out and jumped up, fists over his head, crackling with Arc Light. He slammed into Sepiks eye, and caused a massive explosion of vo0id energy and Arc Light, Theoduin getting send into a shipping container.

Sepiks was making several noises at once as its shell spun all around it before it made a single high pitched noise, and exploded, its corpse rolling to the side near the water.

Alsyf and Sara just stared at it.

"Is…is it dead?" Alsyf asked.

"I'm…I'm pretty sure it is very dead." Sara said falling to her knees.

"You good over there?" Theoduin said as he walked over and Alsyf sat down.

"We all nearly died our last deaths." Sara said as she fell back. "Sepiks fuckin had me, this fucking shotgun saved us." She said holding it up straight into the sky.

"Looks old." Alsyf said.

"Banshee was really happy to work on it." She said smiling as she let her arm fall. "Seraph, contact the Vanguard."

Seraph appeared and opened up. "You got it." He said.

"Guardians, how goes the Strike?" He asked.

"Done, Sepiks is in a nice pile over there." Theoduin said with a laugh as he stretched.

"Really? I'm glad I didn't take that bet." Cayde said.

"Whoever bet on us is dead when we get back." Sara said as she stood.

"Either way, with Sepiks gone, the Devils are considerably weaker, and as such, much easier for us to deal with. Come home for your full debriefing Guardians." Zavala said and the channel went silent. Their ships soon appeared overhead.

"Mythic, let's go home." Sara said as she was transmatted up. Theoduin and Alsyf followed and their ships flew home.

Footsteps crunched in the snow and gravel. A figure inspected the broken corpse of Sepiks.

"Well well, impressive for some newbies." The male voice said. "Poor poor Sepiks, did they bust you? Guess you were too weak." He said and kicked the broken servitor and looked up. "Things are getting, interesting."

The ships docked at the hanger, and the three transmatted out and walked out to the Vanguard hall. The Vanguard were waiting for them.

"Hey hey hey, welcome home Guardians! Not gonna lie we were pretty damn worried sending flowers like you out into hell like that." Cayde said.

"But we had faith that you and your Light would prevail against the Fallen." Ikora said with a smile and nodded.

"And our hopes prevailed, Sepiks lies in a pile, the Devils are already scrambling, the Cosmodrome will be much easier to hold with this victory." Zavala said.

"My Hunters will start marking caches for the Titans to secure and the Warlocks to study ASAP." Cayde said. "Time to really see what that old place holds."

Sara started a bit, seeing Cayde so formal was, odd. But smiled knowing that he could be, well someone to look up to regardless of his attitude.

"And with that, one last thing. Banshee will have a selection of new weapons for you, and expect new armor soon." Zavala said.

"Until you here from us again, consider yourselves on leave Guardians." Ikora said.

"And hey, Alsyf, buddy. Yes on leave you may take small missions but I require you take a mandatory two day break from work. Get some rest. Ya know what, that goes for all of you!" Cayde said. "No work, two days, rest, relax…and Warlock find a good book." Cayde said. Sara rolled her eyes.

Zavala gave a warm smile to the group. "I'll agree on that. Dismissed Guardians." He said. Before they turned Sara made a book levitate, and flung it at Cayde, hitting him in the back.

"Ow, Ikora!" Cayde shouted as they left.

"It wasn't me." Ikora said with a chuckle. "I think Sara got you back. You should read that one Cayde, you'll like it." Sara was smiling to herself as the door closed.

"He'll get you back you know?" Alsyf said.

"Yeah but it was worth it." She said.

"Guardians!" Shaxx voice echoed through the Hall as Shaxx walked over. "I wished to personally congratulate you. Sepiks was a menace that needed to be put down. The Vanguard has their own rewards, but here is mine." He said handing them envelopes.

"Sir?" Theoduin said.

"Welcome to the Crucible Guardians. Sharpen your skill, and fight!" He said before going back to his post.

"The…Crucible." Theoduin said.

"Not my cup of tea, but maybe every now and then." Sara said pocketing her invitation. "So, drinks?" She asked walking in front of them and backing up.

"Yes for the love of the Traveler." Alsyf said looking up.

"Let's celebrate quietly though. We have a lot of rest to catch up on with Guardians who'll find out by tomorrow." Theoduin said. Sara smiled and the three went out and had a great night, drinking and laughing with other guardians.

It was late as Sara walked into her room and fell on the bed. "I'm gonna regret that whiskey." She said laughing. Seraph appeared in front of her.

"Yes you will and no I'm not helping. It was a stupid bet." He said. Sara raised a hand.

"But I won!" She said as her hand fell back down.

"Still." He said getting close. "Get some sleep. Tomorrow you should go down to the city." He said.

"Yeah yeah, after, I nap my hangover away." She said as she slowly fell to sleep.

"Crazy…in power and mentality." Seraph said and looked out to the Traveler. "What great things we'll do."

* * *

DWA: Hey! Hope ya liked that! I hated how the strike bosses needed constant adds to fight, so, I spiced it up! Please, tell me what ya think of it!


	8. The Dark Call

DWA: Hey all! Hoped ya like the last chapter, more comin your way!

Also fuck it I'm gonna reply to reviews again. Soooo from the top!  
Vaend CH1: Glad ya think its interesting!  
Guest CH 4: I'm glad you're loving it! I'm having fun writing it!  
nobodyreallyimportant Ch 6: Yeah, that's the goal…I have a LONG way to go.

* * *

 **Chapter 8: The Dark Call**

Sara sighed as she put on her jacket and headed for the elevator. She was going to walk in the city for a while, something that was suggested of all Guardians every now and then. She'd been working with Amanda on her ship, mainly filling gaps with plating and refitting parts. Getting it up to snuff and polished. She had to think of a final design. Of course those days were also spent dealing with congratulations and such from other Guardians after the news that Sepiks went down got out.

She walked into the elevator and took the long ride to a monorail platform and hopped on. She didn't know when or where to get off, she just wanted to walk. Experience the city. She waited for around twenty minutes before she hopped off and walked down into the city. It was, mostly humans. She could see a few Awoken and Exo.

" _Quite the scene huh? It's always so full."_ Seraph said in her head as she stuffed her hands in her pockets and started walking.

"Seems too full." She said. She walked along, seeing the large buildings, the Tower in the distance. It was, odd to see the people here just living their lives. For Sara the last months have been, fighting. For them life was peaceful.

Stagnant.

"I don't think I could live like this." She said with a slight chuckle.

" _What, peacefully?"_ Seraph asked.

"Yeah, fighting's all I've known." She said. She saw a food vendor and walked up, and grabbed a hot pretzel, paying vendor glimmer.

"Have a good day ma'am." She said smiling. Sara smiled and nodded and walked off.

"So weird. But they're so happy. Guess that's why we come down here. To realize that well, we give them this peace." She said. "As loud as peace is." She said.

" _You are used to the silence."_ Seraph said. She saw a crowd by a large screen outside a store and looked on. It was showing a crucible match. High stakes.

"Odd to know that's a sport…" She said. A hand clapped onto her shoulder.

"We're makin bets on the teams, wanna join the pot?" The burly man asked.

"Oh uhm, no thank you. Not the biggest Crucible fan out there." She said.

"What? Aw c'mon you gotta have a favorite team or Guardian!" He said. She shrugged. "Nnnope."

"So what do you do in your free time?" Another person asked.

"I uhm, study?" She asked. It was, odd to talk to people about this.

"Study what?"

"Eliksni language is one thing, how their tech works." She said. "Though most of that is how to break it." She said rolling her eyes.

"Why learn that? Not many places have access to that kinda stuff." The man said.

"I uhm, well I wanted to. First time I saw a Fallen I was, taken away how different they were from myself. I wanna learn more." She said smiling.

"You saw a fallen and lived?" A woman asked.

"Uh yeah, lot's…oh. I'm stupid. I guess I do look normal." She said. "I'm just a newish Guardian taking a stroll." She said as Seraph appeared.

"Oh shit, well nice to meet you Guardian." He said and stuck out his hand.

"Please I'm not going to shake hands or anything. I'm just an Awoken." She said

"So why no love for the crucible?"

"I'm new." She said. "But I'll leave you to your bets." She said as Seraph vanished. "Nice appearance buddy." She said as she walked off with a wave.

" _Thanks, I hope I looked my best."_ He said. She shook her head. _"Oh, incoming message from Theoduin."_

"Yo guys, got a job for us, should be short. Get in find a Guardian and get out. Plus it's on the fuckin moon. You in?"

She laughed. "Sure if it's short, give me an hour I'm down in the city." She said.

"Don't take too long." Alsyf said.

"No promises boys." She said. "Seraph, nearest monorail station?"

" _Just a few blocks from here."_ He said. As she was walking to the monorail station she heard a shriek and looked down an alley to see two men attacking a woman.

" _Sara wait we can't-"_ Seraph started but was cut off.

"Hey!" She said and ran over pushing them away. She knew the rules, no powers, but she had to help. "The hell is wrong with you two!?"

"Oh get the hell outta here." One man said and pulled out a switchblade.

"You get out of here and leave her alone." She said. She heard the woman scramble up and start to run.

"Hey, stop!" The man with the blade said and started after, but Sara blocked the way. "You wanna die!?"

"Dude chill she's not worth it." The other man said.

"Listen to your friend." Sara said.

"Fuck that! She was loaded, and you cost me that score." He said and put the knife to her throat. Suddenly Seraph Appeared by her shoulder.

"I wouldn't advise that sir, she'd get back up." He said.

"Wouldn't be my first death." She said.

"Oh fuck…" The first man said and dropped the knife as he ran. His friend ran with, not making a comment. Sara looked back, the woman gone.

"Why would they…" Sara asked herself shaking her head.

"Even down in the last city, some people live life better than others. The Peacekeepers generally stop this but it's a big city." Seraph said and vanished. Sara sighed and made her way to the Monorail station.

It was a long quiet trip home.

Sara jogged up to her team, who seemed to have been waiting for some time.

"Finally." Theoduin said.

"I couldn't find my Fusion Rifle!" Sara said as she lightly punched his should as she ran by and spun on her heel, now walking backwards. "No time to wait now eh?" She said and got transmatted to her ship.

The other two shrugged and went into their ships, and took off.

"So, who here has actually made a warp?" Alsyf asked.

"Not me." Sara said.

"Nah." Theoduin said.

"Same." Alsyf finished and started tapping buttons.

"So, shall we?" She asked as she made the preps.

"Let's hope your junker holds up." Theoduin said.

"I'll kill you." She said. Duddenly there was a push, then the light of NLS travel. W white spot, with so many changing colors.

"I feel weird here…" Alsyf said.

Feelin fine." Theoduin said. "Sara?"

"It's…beautiful, I have to study this tech, just for my own curiosity!" She said smiling.

"She's Warlocking again." Alsyf said laughing.

"I'll kill you too!" Sara shouted into the comms. They started laughing and she cut the comms to watch the lights. Seraph appeared by her.

"It is wonderful huh?" He said.

"Yeah…" She said smiling. "So, what's with the moon?" She asked.

"…People say we gave the Hive the moon to keep them off Earth. But, that's not the case. We lost so many Guardians on an assault. We call it the Great Disaster. They took it." He said. Soon the ships came out of warp and flew down to the Lunar surface.

"So what's the job?" Sara said turning on the comms.

"Search and rescue." Theoduin said. "A Guardian was doing research here, a Titan no less. Stopped checking in." He said.

"Hunter scouts say he got an old accelerator up and working. We should start there." Alsyf said. The ships flew by the Accelerator and dropped off the team, and they made their way inside. Sara jumped, going a bit higher, but not as high as she expected.

"Strong gravity." She muttered.

"Thank the Hive." Silvia said. "Their magic increased the Gravity on the moon's surface, but somehow it doesn't affect Earth."

Sara was interested, but said nothing about it. The group wandered inside and Athena appeared and went to a control console and started accessing it.

"Activity logs…active three days ago. Ghost activity. Next location found. Old Colony base. A short Sparrow ride from here. Activating generators." As promised, lights came on as did the accelerator itself. Outside was the familiar sound of Skiffs.

"Company." Alsyf said getting a Swarm grenade from his belt.

"Ah man, we haven't had time to clean up." Theoduin said getting his shotgun and cocking it.

"Come now, we can still show wonderful hospitality. Alsyf, please give them a nice welcome." Sara said. He nodded and tossed the grenade over his shoulder. It exploded and immediately the Swarm attacked a Stealth Vandal, killing it quickly. The group ran for the entrance, Theoduin shotgunning another Stealth Vandal, the blast sending it to the wall. Outside Dregs started shooting in. Sara and Alsyf taking cover at both sides of the door, Theoduin behind Sara.

"My turn." Sara said and tossed a grenade. It exploded into fractals that exploded again, taking out two Dregs. Alsyf shot the other dreg in the head as more skiffs arrived.

Sara nodded to Alsyf, who rushed outside, Theoduin following. Sara was last out, several shock grenades landed around the group. Alsyf ran out as they exploded, his shields popping as the others took minor damage. Sara ran right to find a captain. She grinned under her helmet.

"Hello friend." She said in Eliksni. The Captain stopped for a second before roaring as he fired his rifle at her, five bolts of plasma coming her way. She jumped top the right to avoid them and started firing. She could hear Theoduin's pulse grenade going off in the background.

Sara pulled out her fusion rifle, still Arc Energy and fired off the bolts of energy. The shield popped and the Captain disintegrated into nothing. She ran over and pulled out her scout rifle. Looking through her scope she started picking off dregs as Theoduin unloaded on some shanks.

It wasn't long till all the Fallen were dead, the three regrouped on what looked like a well-traveled path.

"Shall we ride?" Theoduin said summoning his sparrow. The other two did the same and took off, passing buildings on the way, racing across the lunar surface. The group came to the lunar colony base, several buildings pretty close to each other. They all hopped off their sparrows, Alsyf pointing to an elevated building.

"Looks like the right place." He said. The group used their various jumping abilities to get to the door. Their ghosts appeared and searched as Sara hopped on a computer and started typing away, looking at lines of code and data from the first colonists.

"Had to be something he left behind…" Silvia said.

"Got something…notes." Sara said. "Recent too, all about a Temple of Crota…hidden nearby." She said as she got off the terminal. "Though Hidden seems to be relative to this guy, it's pretty obvious with his directions."

"Crota huh? Something tells me this got more complicated." Alsyf said as he hopped out a broken part of the room.

"Maybe." Theoduin said following. Sara rolled her eyes and hopped down and led the group to a small canyon, where there was a Hive structure with chains on the door.

"Heads up, Guardian down." Athena said on their comms. The three walked over as Seraph started looking over the body, but, Sara could feel it.

Or rather, not, feel it.

"Nothing's left…" She said as Theoduin kneeled beside the body.

"Not even the Light" Seraph said. Theoduin looked around.

"Where's their Ghost?" He said. As Alsyf went to search he looked up to see someone standing at the cliff face.

"Uh Guys…five o'clock." He said. The two turned and saw the same thing.

"Who is that?…" Sara said. Suddenly they heard a sound in the emptiness of space and turned to see one of the lock and chains gone. Alsyf looked back, and the figure was gone.

"Great…" He said and ran for that spot.

"Guns out people! Show's about to start." Sara said getting out her Fusion rifle. The second, then third chain vanished. Theoduin readied his rifle.

"Here they come!" Silvia shouted in the comms as the thrall screeched as the door opened, and they ran out. Theoduin started unloading into the horde as Sara threw a Vortex Grenade. The initial explosion killed several thrall, and more died to the vortex. Bolts of void flew by them, Acolytes had come out.

Alsyf had seen them coming and shot, taking one down, then another.

"Guardians, picking up faint remnants of light inside the Temple. Suggest retrieval of Ghost, or its data." Athena said.

Sara blasted another group of thralls. "Busy Athena!" She said switching to her machine gun and started to gun them down as Theoduin got rid of a flanking group with a rocket.

"Just a suggestion." She replied.

"Fuck this!" Theoduin shouted and jumped up using Lift, and covered himself in Arc Light, and used Fist of Havoc to kill the rest of the Thrall, the dust hanging in the air. Three Knights ran out, only to be taken out by blasts of Solar Light.

"Let's get in there!" Alsyf called as he jumped down, Theoduin rushing ahead, Sara behind him.

They came to a large room, catwalks on the right and left, the right side leading to an odd machine. There was a section down below as well. Bolts of void splashed on their shields.

"Move right and shoot!" Sara said shooting the Acolytes at the left. Theoduin charging ahead with a shotgun. Alsyf helped both sides with his hand cannon. As they came to the machine a scream pierced the air of the temple as a Wizard rose out of a puddle of…something. It charged its blasts as Sara jumped up.

"Shut up!" She shouted and launched a Nova Bomb, hitting the Wizard in the chest with the powerful attack. The Bomb exploded and killed nearby acolytes and the Wizard in one blow. The rest of the hive roared and retreated into the temple. After making sure the room was clear they holstered their weapons and Seraph flew over to the machine.

There was a Ghost in it. Seraph scanned the Ghost and sighed.

"It's dead, but I can read some of its memories…let's see…I'd rather not see that sorry…there we g-oh. The Hive have been raising an army here. They still have a ways to go but, if they invaded now it'd still be hard to stop. We have to tell the Vanguard." He said turning to the group. Sara nodded.

"Let's go home." She said and they all transmatted to their ships.

The ships jumped into NLS speeds on their way to earth.

"So, mystery person, any guesses?" Sara asked.

"Female Exo." Alsyf said. "No Light either." Athena added.

"From the glance I got, no memories pop up." Theoduin said.

"Haven't met anyone outside the Tower and my stroll in the city." Sara said.

"Creepy." Theoduin said.

The group got home and made their way to the Vanguard Hall, and knocked on the door. The doors slid open. Ikora and Cayde were absent.

"Guardians? You went on a simple search and rescue. Such a mission doesn't warrant a visit, unless you found something else." Zavala said as he put his hands behind his back.

"First, search and rescue failed sir." Theoduin said. "The Guardian was dead to the Hive." He said.

"I see…and anything else?" He asked.

"Yeah, Seraph." Sara said. Seraph appeared and deposited the data into the Vanguard Archives, which appeared on a holographic screen in front of Zavala, who looked through.

"Disturbing how far they've come…" He muttered. "We've only been allowing minor ops on the Moon, but it seems the Hive are as aggressive as ever. We'll be opening the Moon to all operations. Expect there to be many more jobs." He said.

"I guess Guardians will be much busier huh?" Sara asked.

"Indeed. Many will be happy as well. As for what you found…I will relay this to the Cryptarchs. Expect a request from them soon." He said as the screen vanished. "Good work Guardians, even if we lost one of our own we gained valuable information. Their sacrifice will not be in vain. Dismissed." He said. The group saluted and left, Sara waving to Shaxx as tradition.

"Even if the Cryptarchs ask someone else, I'd guess we'd go for the Moon anyways." Alsyf said.

"Definitely." Theoduin said.

"But we have no real, location. We'd be wandering catacombs." Sara said.

"You have a point." Alsyf replied. Seraph appeared in front of them.

"I'll forward a request to Master Rahool about our information and a request to help out. For now, you all need rest. I have a feeling we're getting work tomorrow." He said.

"We should charge overtime." Theoduin said.

"Alright everyone shove off to your rooms. See you guys tomorrow. Nice work today." She said.

"Sure thing boss." Alsyf said rolling his eyes.

"Boss, sounds like a mom." Theoduin said walking off.

"I might as well be with you two!" She shouted as Alsyf waved as he walked. Sara sighed and went her own way, got to her room and fell on to her bed. She quickly fell asleep, only to wake up, on the moon.

"What…the hell?" She asked looking out to the Earth. She was in the middle of a large crater. "The Moon? Why am I on the moon?" She asked no one in particular. She then heard that deafening roar.

"Hey! This is different! Why am I here!?" She shouted out.

"You…belong…to the Dark." The voice said.

"Well someone fucked up in that department pal cause I'm a Guardian!" She shouted. Suddenly, a pain shot through her body from her heart. It seared through her as if she was being burned and shot. She cried out and fell to her knees.

"The Light, cannot, smother the Dark."

"Fuck you!" She shouted. "Whatever or whoever you are I'm a Guardian! I am Light!" She screamed.

She took a deep breath as she woke up sitting straight up and coughing.

"Sara! Thank goodness!" Seraph said.

"S-Seraph, what, what happened?" She said.

"I don't know, you're brain patterns were acting as you were having a nightmare. Then everything was going haywire! Your heart was beating so fast I had to stop it to calm it down!"

"You can stop my heart!?" She said.

"Well, yes and no, it's like a defibrillator." He said. "Only I can make it stop for around five seconds. Sara, what happened?" He asked getting close.

"I was, on the Moon this time…it said I belonged to the Dark." She said shaking her head.

"Well that's ridiculous. You're a Guardian." He said.

"I know…hey let's change the subject…any messages?" She asked.

"Yes! Master Rahool want's us back on the moon! We're going into the temple again Mission starts at 1700." He said.

"Just say five like a normal person." She said as she got up to make herself breakfast.

"I'm not a normal person, I'm a Ghost." He said.

"Shut up!" Sara said with a laugh.

'Back to the Moon.' She thought to herself. 'Hope I don't have some kinda episode up there.'

* * *

DWA: Heeyyy another down! Tell me what ya think! Also, like that I'm replying to reviews again? I'm hoping it brings more regular reviewers! See ya next time!


	9. The World's Grave

DWA: Hey all, how ya been? Enjoying the series? It's been a blast to write! Also sorry for the delay, between a week long (and then some) headache and some medical stuff I wasn't in writing mood for a while.

Reviews yay:

Vaend: They've been together for over a month but in battle you'd get quite the bond. The three care for each other a lot, even though the (though meaningless) death threats

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The World's Grave**

Three ships came out of Warp and flew down to the lunar surface. Unmistakable was Sara's Arcadia jumpship leading the other two.

"So what we got Athena?" Sara asked over comms.

"The Cryptarchs poured over the data we recovered, as did I as Alsyf slept on the couch." She said.

"Don't see why that's bad." He said.

"There's references to an area in the Temple called The World's Grave." She said. They started flying over the Accelerator. Guardians were swarming the area, doing damage to Fallen and Hive work as they fought.

"It's said to hold mountains of data, of Earth and beyond. If we can find a way to weaken the Hive, it's there." She said.

"But we have to go deeper into the Temple." Silvia said in her usual worried tone.

"And who knows how deep we have to go. We'll start cross referencing the data to make the search easier for you three." Seraph said as they flew by the Temple entrance. They doubled back, and flew by the Accelerator again, this time appearing at the landing zone set up by the Vanguard. Another lone Guardian was shooting at some Fallen as they ran past.

"Think he needs help?" Sara asked.

"Nah, he's got it." Theoduin said. The group made their way to another entrance into the fortress and made their way inside, and down a winding rock path. The group soon came to a large chamber, on a walkway that overlooked a large chasm.

"Distance to the bottom?" Alsyf asked.

"Don't wanna know." Sara said as she walked along. Alsyf kicked off a rock and waited as Theoduin walked by.

The impact sound never came.

"Yeesh." He said and jogged to catch up to the group. Suddenly a ear splitting screech broke the silence as a Wizard came out from behind a pillar, and other hive started to swarm the room.

"It's never easy." Sara said as she took cover.

"Easy isn't fun!" Theoduin said as he sprayed his auto rifle into the horde of Thrall heading their way. The Wizard drew closer only for her shields to be destroyed by Alsyf, who'd set up on the walkway after hearing the screech. It screamed at him only to take another shot to the chest, and it retreated to cover.

Soon acolytes showed up and started shooting at Sara and Theoduin.

"Sara, Arc Flash?" Theoduin called out. Sara gave a thumbs up and Theoduin chucked a Flashbang up into the air. Sara pushed it hard with telekinesis, causing it to detonate above the thrall and Acolytes, blinding most of them. The three started picking off disoriented targets. Suddenly the wizard came out shooting Sara's cover with Darkness Blasts. Theoduin stood from cover and fired a rocket. The crack of Alsyf's rifle sounded in the chamber as the shields went down, and the rocket impacted directly on the Wizard, and it turned to ash.

The group checked the rest of the room and started walking on.

"I hate the Hive." Alsyf said.

"Sara likes 'em." Theoduin said. Sara jogged ahead and had Seraph take some pictures of runes and writing.

"Gross." Alsyf said.

"My interest in them is purely academic!" She called back.

"So was Toland's." Alsyf said walking by.

"Oh shut up, man was brilliant." She said standing up as Theoduin walked by and she took the back.

"Doesn't change the fact the man went insane." Theoduin said. Sara huffed.

"Well I plan to keep my sanity. And maybe not go that deep." She said.

"I'd hate to see our leader go nuts." Alsyf said.

"Both of you, hush." She said.

"What, voices in your head?" Theoduin asked laughing.

"Not yet, but I'm hearing ship engines…" She muttered as she ran ahead. They came to a section of the Hellmouth, a large corridor with a huge opening for ships that gazed into the abyss below.

There was also a lot of Hive.

"So, back to the fight huh?" She asked. Seraph appeared.

"Other side of the corridor! There's a knight! He has the key to get to the World's Grave…he's tough too, from what I can gather."

"I have a Nova Bomb with his name on it." Sara said with a grin as she closed her hand into a fist, a purple flash around her.

"Nice." Theoduin said. "Until then, let's go!" He said and charged ahead, firing his auto rifle, and the screams of the hive filled the room.

"I hate him." Sara said as she started shooting from the balcony.

"He'll grow on you." Alsyf said.

"When?" She asked.

"I'll tell you when it happens." He said running after Theoduin. Sara rolled her eyes and rushed after. The group ran out to a ledge that looked down into the abyss, and ran through the hive, cutting them down, before getting to a small arena.

"Huh. Seems like this is a nice place to fight a Knight." Theoduin said.

"The Knight should be here…" Silvia said. Suddenly the large closed door started to open, and out came a Larger than normal knight, and he roared at them.

"Found him." Sara said as she glowed with void light and tossed the Nova Bomb, the explosion lighting up the room, only for the knight to charge at her and swing at her gut, and fire at Alsyf with his Boomer, who ducked behind a pillar.

"Theoduin!" Alsyf shout and Theoduin rushed forward and jumped up before launching forward with his knee shining in Arc light as Sara narrowly dodged a downward swing. The Knight reeled and swung at Theduin, and slashed off his right arm and sent him flying.

"Oh fuck! That's my good arm!" He said and pulled out his auto rifle and lit the Knight up, it aiming its boomer and firing. Theoduin didn't move and was hit by the powerful screeching blasts, and was put in more pieces.

"He died so he could get his arm back didn't he?" Sara said.

"What a dick." Alsyf said chucking a Swarm Grenade at the Knight, the small bots attacking the large knight. Sara ran over and rezzed Theoduin, who moved his arm.

"Better." He said.

"Just kill it." Sara said. Theoduin shrugged and pulled out a rocket launcher and fired, the knight falling to one knee after it was hit. Alsyf ran up and stuffed the barrel of his rifle in its mouth.

"Better hope it goes through pal." He said and pulled the trigger, the shot blasting through the head of the knight as it fell over, a small orb rolling from its body.

"We have the key." Athena said. "Time for the Grave, sending location data to your HUDs."

"Got it Athena, thanks." Sara said and jumped and glided over the wall, the other two following with their jumps. They cut swaths of hive down, going through and coming to a room, empty besides something in the back.

"So that's it." Theoduin said.

"Whose ghost gets it?" Alsyf said.

"I don't want it." Athena said. "To much junk to clutter my cognitive processors and I can't keep up with my Guardian." She said.

"Is that why you're so monotone? Did you delete your personality?" Alsyf asked laughing.

"Silvia?" Athena asked.

"No way, Seraph can have it." She said.

"Athena!" Alsyf shouted. Theoduin and Sara made their way to the database, as did Athena. "You did didn't you!?" He said running to catch up. Seraph went over and did a primary scan.

"Just so you know, they're not going to be happy." He said.

"The hive can be something other than angry?" Theoduin said cocking his rifle.

"Probably about to find out!" Seraph said and connected. There was maybe five seconds before a roar pierced the air. From a pool of liquid, rose thrall and acolytes.

"Let's do it!" Sara said as she took out some Acolytes, Theoduin focusing on the thrall. Alsyf hitting enemies with precision shots with his hand cannon. They kept coming and they all took cover and shot from it.

"I always forget, the Hive have their name for a fucking reason!" Theoduin said throwing a Pulse grenade into the pool, spawning thrall dying as fast as they rose. Sara threw a Vortex grenade in the door to the room. Soon knights rose from the pool and charged. Sara took out her Machine Gun and unloaded into them, the Knights putting up black shields.

"Seraph, how's it going buddy?" Alsyf said as he held his hand in the air and a gun of gold appeared, and he took out three knights.

"Amazing!" He said laughing. "They've shattered the Bekenstien Limit. As for the time, hang in there guys." He said.

"Pleasure as always." Alsyf muttered and kept firing. More knits rose with Boomers, others with swords as thrall rushed them. Sara cutting those down with her machine gun, before taking cover from the explosions from the boomers. Theoduin pulled out his shotgun and ran at the sword bearing knights and blasted them with his shotgun as Alsyf pulled out his rocket and fired at a Knight, killing one of the boomers. Sara managed to kill a knight with several precision shots. Alsyf switched to his rifle and started picking others off as a Wizard appeared and covered Theoduin in poisonous fog.

He pushed his way out and glared angrily at it. He rushed and jumped, activating Fist of Havoc and slamming into it, the shockwave killing the Wizard and several other nearby Hive. The cleanup was easy. The three waited until Seraph pulled from the console.

"Wow, I have, so much to look through in the next few days. But I saw what we needed. Hive seeders have been hitting Earth for a while know, and the Hive are gathering strength till their God's return." He said.

"Sounds…bad." Theoduin said.

"You wanted to say fun." Sara said.

"Maybe…" He muttered.

"Anything else?" Alsyf asked.

"Well, the Hive have seen the Darkness take…hundreds of worlds…the Hive have decimated thousands over Eons…and the rulers from the beginning are still around." He said.

"Oof, that's a hit to the moral." Alsyf said.

"We'll be fine…I hope…either way! Let's get home, get paid, and relax. Even though this wasn't too hard." Sara said. The two nodded and they all transmatted to their ships and flew home.

Hours later, Sara walked into her room and sighed. "Not the most fun mission huh?" She said as Seraph appeared beside her.

"No but I'm happy, still going through all that data." He said flying around as the lights turned on. Sara got changed into her tank top and shorts.

"True, anything, unusual I can use?" She asked.

"Sadly the Worlds Grave isn't an educational database. It's more for the Cryptarchs, but…I did find something-no! Make that two somethings!" He said.

"For a highly sophisticated and God made intelligence construct, you sure have a way with words." She said.

"Oh talk to Ikora's Ghost if you want a lesson in grammar. This is important! You know the Great Disaster right?" He asked

"Every Guardian gets one hell of a lecture from Zavala so, yeah." She said laughing as she sat down with a soda.

"Crota came and, killed so many Guardians…and, I know how to get at it!" He said. Sara sputtered and coughed in the middle of her drink. She pounded her chest until she could breathe.

"What!?"

"Yes! We could study it, or destroy it!" He said.

"With that thing? Breaking it seems right. Theoduin will think I'm off my rocker…the second?" She asked making a washcloth float over.

"Some kind of shrine to someone or…some _thing_ called Oryx." He said.

"Well, either we have two jobs or we have one to give away." She said as she cleaned up her mess.

"Blitz can help, best build bridges now." He said.

"Yeah, I'll ask Blitz for the Shrine. Soon, we go after that sword." She said.

* * *

DWA: Hey all, shorter chapter I know! But I'm real excited for the next one! Be ready!


	10. The Sword

DWA: Hey all, again sorry for the last chapters delay, but this one I've been excited for!

* * *

 **Chapter 10: The Sword**

Sara had had a dreamless sleep, which was more worrying than a nightmare to her. However she was in her casual clothes as she walked around the tower.

"Where is he?" She muttered. She had been walking around and looking for Blitz for some time now.

"I can call his Ghost." Seraph said.

"Sure sure." She said. Seraph looked away.

"Yeah it's Seraph, Sara wants to talk to Blitz…got it." He looked back. "He's down in the Gym."

"Yeah I was just trying not to be stereotypical." She muttered and jogged her way down. Blitz was lifting weights with Ash spotting.

"Hey Blitz." She said Ash pulled the bar up with Blitz and set it as Blitz sat up.

"Wassup Sara?" He asked.

"Got a job for ya." She said. "Wanna hear?"

"Sure!" He said.

"A job?" Ash said.

"So, and the guys hit the Worlds Grave and got so much, and we learned about a Shrine that's active." She said.

"To Crota?" Blitz asked.

"Something called Oryx." She said. Blitz looked to Ash, who shrugged.

"Could be higher in the chain." She said.

"So, wanna bust a Shrine?" She asked. A Ghost appeared by Ash, and it look beat up. Its shell was chipped, scarred, and even cracked.

"We need to know what we're getting into first." It said, a deep, worn voice. "Blindly running in gets Guardians killed, for good."

"Kora, it's not our decision. But I would like to know more." Ash said.

"Of course, Seraph?" Sara asked and Seraph appeared.

"Sending everything we got." He said

Jericho appeared by Blitz. "Got it, even a map right to it, Vanguards gonna like us when we crush the hive." He said excitedly.

"Jericho you're attitude-" Kora started before Ash pushed him gently.

"Fits Blitz perfectly." She said. "I'll go get ready." She said patting Blitz's shoulder and walking off.

"She's odd." Sara said.

"Ahh she's been a Guardian for several years. She's a bit more cautious, we needed that since me and Fluff are kinda reckless in a fight. I worry about Kora, what kind of Ghost keeps that damage?"

"Not a stable one…" Seraph said.

"Or maybe it's a reminder…" Jericho said.

"Of what?" Sara asked.

"We asked. And uh…well I've never seen a Ghost's light go red before…I dropped it so fast." Blitz said laughing nervously.

"Yikes…" She said. Blitz shrugged and walked out with a wave.

"Alsyf called. We are a go." Seraph said.

"Let's do it!" Sara said and ran by. She ran to the hanger and changed into her armor on the run. Alsyf and Theoduin waiting.

"So, they take it?" Alsyf said.

"Yep, Shrines getting Blitzed." Sara said.

"Awesome. Let's bust a sword." She said. The three got transmatted to their ships and took off for the moon.

"So, any briefing?" Alsyf asked over comms as they entered warp.

"Just from the Cryptarchs after we sent our findings. Take a listen." Silvia said. Master Rahool's voice came on comms.

"Long ago, the Moon fell to Crota, wielding a sword so dark it drained any light it touched. Crota sleeps now, but the sword, does not. The Warlocks think the Sword is in a chamber guarded by the Swarm Princes. If you face them and steal the sword, we can see that it is never wielded again."

"Sounds fun, find some princes make daddy Crota all angry and go home have a drink." Theoduin said.

"No one said Crota was their father." Sara said.

"Listen no God is gonna trust someone else's princes to keep a sword nice and safe. So, Crota's a bad father and we gotta spank his boys." Theoduin replied.

"Just shut up please." Alsyf said as they came out of warp.

"I'm taking us to the Hellmouth, I see an LZ that's clear enough. Near one of the Princes." Athena said. The ships flew by and dropped them off. A Guardian was nearby, a Hunter. The three started running before they came on comms.

"Careful Fireteam, Swarm Prince nearby." He said.

"That's our target Hunter." Alsyf said.

"Understood, happy hunting." The three looked back to see him waving before hopping down from the hill he was on.

"So the only way to destroy the sword is to kill the Princes. First one is, as Athena said, just up ahead." Silvia said as the three made their way to a ritual site, seeing Acolytes kneeling arms raised, their weapons hovering between their hands. The Swarm Prince walked around them, chanting.

"Theoduin?" Sara asked as she took aim with her scout rifle. Alsyf got out his hand cannon. Theoduin nodded and pulled out his rocket launcher and fired. The rocket slammed into the pillar in the middle of the site, all the acolytes dying. The prince looked up and roared, and Sara and Alsyf started firing as the knight rushed the group. Theoduin hopped up and whipped out his shotgun before rushing the prince and blocking its swing with the gun, pushing it to the side before blasting it twice in the head, the knight falling to ash.

"One down, I got the route to the others." Seraph said. The group reloaded and Alsyf ran off to take cover in the hills. Sara and Theoduin ran towards the waypoint, an opening into the side of the Hellmouth's inner tunnels. Before the two got into cover an Acolyte burst into ash, Alsyf had gotten to work, and gotten them shot at by Acolytes. The group cut through them quickly, even the three lesser knights in the way. They waited as Alsyf caught up. Seraph appeared beside them.

"Not to unsettle you all but. I'm tracking the sword via the Light of the Guardians its killed…" He said. The three looked at each other.

"It's further below." He said and vanished.

"For it to be that detectable…" Sara said as she ran ahead.

"That's a lot of Light." Theoduin said. Alsyf gave a shaky sigh into the comms. More a shudder.

They ran into a room, holes in the wall letting the group see the massive crater that is the Hellmouth. Thrall rushed them that were quickly mowed down, Sara focusing on a Wizard in the back as Theoduin rushed a Knight with a shotgun. The group of Hive fell quickly. They moved on.

"The sword is nearby." Athena said. "It's…dark."

They came up to a chamber, in the back, was the sword.

"There it is…" Alsyf said.

"Do you feel that?" Theoduin asked. "That, pressure, weighing down on our Light." He said.

"What…?" Sara asked quietly. She didn't feel that…

"For me it's…pulling. It wants my Light." Alsyf said fiddling with his hand cannon. Sara turned off her comms.

"Seraph…I don't feel any of that…I feel…lighter…more free." She said as she cocked her weapon.

' _Maybe you're special.'_ Seraph remarked. Sara sighed and turned on her comms. The three started to go to the sword before a roar was heard.

"The Princes!" Silvia shouted. From the pool under the sword rose Thrall after Thrall. The group heard doors open as Hive surrounded them. The group didn't wait, and started unloading.

"The Princes won't come from some ruckus, someone needs to grab that sword." Athena said into the comms.

"Busy!" Alsyf said as he blasted a Thrall that got close.

"Not to be that _guy!_ " Theoduin said headbutting an Acolyte. "But I don't wanna touch that thing." He said.

"I'll get it!" Sara said and pulled out her machine gun and walked towards it, mowing down the Thrall.

"Cover her!" Theoduin shouted tossing a Pulse Grenade at a group. Alsyf tossed an Incendiary Grenade at another group and fired at Acolytes, Theoduin dealing with Thralls. Sara stepped into the pool and ran for the sword. She grabbed the hilt and her world went black…except for her. She looked around in the inky blackness.

"What…what's going…on?" She asked. Suddenly there was a bright light. Looking at it, inside was inky black, which was pushing out and putting a thin layer on the light.

"What's going on!? Seraph!? Alsyf!? Theoduin!" She shouted. She suddenly felt weak, and fell to her knees. "What's happening…?"

Theoduin bashed the head of a Thrall, and saw them suddenly run from the exit.

"Sara has the sword!" Alsyf said. Theoduin turned to see Sara, sword in one hand, head seemingly down, and unmoving. The doors around her opened and three large Knights walked out, and right past her.

"Uh, Sara!" Theoduin said as he backed up a bit.

"Yo, Sara, mind helping?" Alsyf said firing on one of the princes. Out of the corner of his eyes, Theoduin saw Sara move, and in one swing, the Princes fell to ash.

"Holy shit." Alsyf said.

"That's powerful." Theoduin said looking at the armor of the Princes. "But, why did they walk by her?"

Alsyf walked over and patted Sara's shoulder. "Nice work." He said.

Silvia appeared by Theoduin. "Guy's something's wrong…Seraph isn't saying anything, he won't respond!" She said. Alsyf turned to Theoduin.

"Maybe he's thinking? Like shouldn't the sword be, ya know? Broken?…And Sara's quiet too…hey-"

Alsyf didn't finish his sentence as the sound of dark metal cleaving flesh was heard throughout the chamber. Alsyf fell to the ground, in two pieces. Sara looked at Theoduin. She seemed to roar into the comms as she charged Theoduin, who ducked under the swung, and side stepped another.

"Woah! Sara chill!" He shouted as he shoulder charged, blasting Sara with Arc Light as she flew back and hit a wall, before getting up, grunting and charging him again, swinging wildly. Theoduin pulled out his shotgun. "Sorry!" He said and fired, Sara blocking with the sword and swinging, sending a wave of Dark that slammed into Theoduin's gut, a burst of light blasting from him.

"Traveler! Fuck!" He said falling to one knee, the pain coursing through his circuits extreme. Sara walked up and raised the sword above her head, before gunshots rang out. Alsyf had gotten up.

"The fuck's wrong with you!" Alsyf shouted, gripping his hand cannon tightly. Sara screamed in pain and anger as she spun and ran at Alsyf, who fired more rounds into her, but it didn't slow her down as she swung in an uppercut, Alsyf jumping back and taking out his sniper and firing rapidly into her, Sara falling to her knees, and Darkness flowed from the sword into her, healing her.

"The fuck…no way this is her research…" Alsyf said.

"That's not Sara." Theoduin said and readied his rocket launcher. "Sara's a Warlock, not an animal!" He shouted and fired. Sara swung around and cleaved the rocket, causing it to explode, the sword getting a crack on it.

"We'll talk to her in a bit!" Alsyf shouted and raised his hand cannon up and was covered in Solar Light. Sara spun and Alsyf shot three times, Sara swinging to each shot and blocking the Golden Gun shots. She ran at him and jumped up and slammed the sword into the ground, sending shockwaves of arc energy at him, blasting him back. Theoduin came up behind her and put his arms under hers and held her.

"Sara calm down!" Sara slammed her helmet into Theoduin's, freeing her, then roundhouse kicked him, sending him flying in to the door at the other side of the room. "Holy fuck…that hurt…" He said as he slid to the ground.

"Sara can ya hear us!?" Alsyf said. Sara roared and rushed him. "That's a no!" She swung at him and he ducked, the sword cleaving a pillar, but cracking again. Sara kept swinging at him before Theoduin lit her up with Auto fire. Sara changed her attack towards Theoduin, jumping high up to the ceiling and pushing off and speeding to him. He rolled forward as she slammed the sword into the ground and spun as Theoduin turned to shoot, only for Sara to get a swing in and cut his weapon in half.

"Oh come on!" He said and threw a punch, only for Sara to catch it and throw it aside before grabbing his helmet and lifting him off the ground. Theoduin started punching her arm, and he was slammed into the ground. Once, twice, thrice, again and again, the crater getting deeper. Alsyf took aim with his sniper, but changed to the sword and shot his mag into it, the sword cracking more each time, it was barely held together. Sara threw Theoduin and ran at him, only to be hit by a shotgun, the pellets bouncing off her armor. She looked back, Theoduin's body glowing with Arc Light.

"Come on…" He said, his voice glitching and drawing out 'on'. Sara took off at him, Theoduin running at her. The two jumped up, Theoduin using Fist of Havoc, and the two collided, and a shattering was heard, the splinters of the sword falling away as Sara landed roughly on the ground, Theoduin doing a superhero landing, panting. Seraph appeared over her body.

"Ohhh what? What happened? I spaced out there for a second! Oh, Sara's unconscious…what happened?" He said looking around. Theoduin sat down and looked up.

"Sara tried to kill us." He said.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Seraph said laughing.

"Tried!?" Alsyf shouted. "I got cut in half!" He said jumping down. "Athena, send him the video footage." Athena appeared by his shoulder.

"Gladly." She said, surprisingly sounding rather angry. Seraph looked away.

"W-What the, I don't have…any of that. What is she…with the sword…" Seraph looked down at Sara. "I guess we need to talk."

"Wake her up!" Alsyf said.

"I tried! She's not responding, we have to wait. None of us leave here, without hearing from her…"

Sara awoke in that inky darkness, the light covering the dark.

"Wait…" She said. "The light cannot smother the dark…is that…me?" She said getting up. "That's my soul isn't it? More white than black but…why is it there?" She asked, to no one.

"Your fate, is uncertain." A voice said, much kinder sounding than what she's used to.

"Who's there!?" She shouted looking around.

"You, and every Guardian, makes their own fate. What you do, is yours to decide. Wake up. Your friends are waiting." It said.

"Who are you?!" She shouted as her worked became white, and she woke up, staring at the lights of the chamber. She groaned as every muscle in her body ached, even worse as she sat up. Everyone was staring at her.

"Uhhh, what?" She said.

"Sara…" Seraph said. Suddenly she was pulled up and spun.

"Ow ow ow everything hurts chill!" She said.

"I think I have the right when you cut. Me. In. Half!" He shouted.

"Wait, what?" She said.

"Sara it's true, you were rally trying to kill them." Seraph said and beamed a video into her mind, her with the sword…attacking them.

"I…that wasn't me!" She said. "I mean, it was but, oh fuck why?" She said looking at her hands. Theoduin put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine, it wasn't you. Whatever that was, was feral, using techniques that I guess you read on." He said.

"I wanna know anything you didn't tell us!" Alsyf shouted.

"Okay okay! You deserve that much. My dreams…well they've had voices." She said

"And what do they say?" Athena said, her calm demeanor noticeably gone.

"The Light cannot smother the Dark." She said. "I didn't get it till…now…I think I saw my own soul. It was bright…with…an inky darkness in the middle." She said. "And before I blacked out, it, pushed out." She said.

"That's cryptic." Silvia said.

"There's…no mentions of that in the Archives. Not even in the records of the Dredgens." Athena said, suddenly calm.

"So we have no idea, except that we dealt with something dark in Sara." Alsyf said and he took a deep breath. "Right, we can't tell the Vanguard, not unless this happens again." He said.

"Wait…why would you protect me?" She asked.

"Sara you may have killed Alsyf and kicked my ass, but that was not you. That was something else, maybe the sword, because you saw that while holding the sword. It's obvious you're Light." Theoduin said chuckling.

"Plus, you've literally never shown any dangerous tendencies before." Alsyf said. "I just needed an explanation, I got one, I'm fine." He said shrugging.

"Well, if it ever happens again, kill me." She said. "Not Seraph, just me."

"Obviously. Let's go and prepare ourselves for Ikora's stare." Theoduin said.

"Just let me do all the talking." Alsyf said.

"Oh no, last time Ikora stared at you, you were shaking." Sara said. The three transmatted up, and left the moon. Meanwhile, the large door opened to the chamber, hours later, and someone walked in as the lights turned down.

"Crota's sword, gone just like that? That's impressive." The person said, a male voice. "Things are, very interesting now. Perhaps…heh, or perhaps not. No no, of course not. It makes no sense!" The roar of hive could be heard, and the cocking of a gun.

"Pitiful fools, am I trespassing!?" He shouted. "Come on then, I need the practice!"

Guardians soon reported Hive, rushing out of Hellmouth entrances that day. It was a field day for Guardians, but many wonder…

What had them running scared?

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DWA: Oh I was soooo excited for this chapter, and even though it was short I think I did my vision justice. Please tell me what you think! I'm excited to know!


	11. The Shrine

DWA: Hey all, hope ya loved the last chapter! I had a blast with it! Just a heads up this chapter will be featuring Blitz's team! Sorry for my uh, delay. I had more of a writing block and lack of motivation that should be more or less over!

Reviews!:

Guest: So uh, I guess I just never said sooo. Sara's Hair color is a dark Purple. I apologize

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 **Chapter 11: The Shrine**

Zavala, Cayde, and Ikora looked at the three guardians, confused looks on their faces.

"I understand the purpose of the mission, but we know nothing of the area, no scouting, yet you want to go now?" Ikora asked.

"Even for you Blitz, this is reckless." Zavala said.

"So? I think it'd be challenging! The last few missions we've had were boring and easy." Blitz said. He was of a paler complexion than most Humans on the tower with short black hair that was rather untamed.

"Yeah, we need a challenge before we get rusty!" Fluff said. Fluff was a black and blue exo, with purple eyes. Ash sighed and shook her head.

"I'd disagree but, we do need a challenge Sirs." She said. Ash had more, vibrant skin coloration with black hair which was swept to the right to cover her face on that side, besides her eye.

"Even so Guardians it never hurts to be prepared. However." He said and eyed Ash. "I'll make a bet."

"Cayde." Zavala said.

"No deal Cayde." Ash said.

"Hear me out. You may like this. I may or may not have, heard of some rare, maybe even exotic gear out there in the Cosmodrome. Enough for you, and the fireteam who gave you this intel. You do this without help or extra intel, and I'll make sure no one gets that gear." He said

"Woah…" Blitz said.

"And if we fail?" Ash said.

"That's the kicker, you three will do my paperwork for a month." He said.

"Cayde!" Ikora said.

"What!? You know I hate paperwork. It's all, boring and stuff." He said waving her off. "Oh, and don't die over this you three."

"I'd take it." Fluff said.

"Same!" Blitz said. Ash sighed, mulling it over. Even with all that paperwork it'd be worth the possible exotic gear. "How easy would it be to find?"

"I have leads that go to leads, don't expect it quickly. You'd still work for it but no one else but me will know, and ya know, paperwork." He said.

"Fine, I'm outnumbered anyways." Ash said.

"Great! Now, I'm hoping you succeed more than fail just so ya know." Cayde said. "Go gettem Blitzkrieg." Zavala gave a grunt but nodded.

"With Ash here I can safely say I approve this mission. Move out Guardians."

Ikora simply nodded and Fluff. Fluff and Blitz ran out. Ash sighed. "Sirs." She said and ran out after them, quickly overtaking them with a hidden grin.

Ash didn't dislike her team at all, she loved them. Even though they were children compared to her.  
All the more reason to keep them safe. She made it to the hanger, and saw three ships take off, reminding her of the team that left nearly an hour ago. "Hope you're well Mythic." She said. Soon Fluff and Blitz caught up.

"I hate that you're so fast." Blitz said.

"Oh be quiet and get in." Ash said as she was transmatted to her ship. The three's ships took off and started warping to the moon.

"Lay us with what we know." Fluff said.

Seraphs voice came on the comms. "Alright Blitzkrieg, I've sent a map to the Shrine. The shrine has been pretty active as of late, especially since more Guardians are going to the moon nowadays." He said. "So the objective is simple, go in, commit heresy, get out. Simple yeah?"

Sara popped up on comms. "Have a good time guys!"

"Aww, how sweet." Jericho said.

"Well, we got our briefing via recording, let's do this!" Blitz shouted and they came out of warp and headed down. The landed by the large entrance to the fortress. There were many dead hive here.

"Wow, maybe Mythic came through?" Blitz said cocking his rifle.

"Best bet." Ash said readying her pulse rifle and the three rushed ahead. They met no resistance till they came to a chamber with missing walls, and lots of gunfire. The Hive and Fallen were fighting.

"Woah!" Blitz said and started shooting.

"Are they invading the Hellmouth?" Ash said.

That's insane! Just like us but the Fallen have way more to lose!" Fluff said firing his hand cannon.

" _Ash, detecting something dark deeper in the tunnels. Off our path, I'll keep an eye on it."_ Kora said off comms. Ash ignored him mostly and kept firing. Between the three groups fighting the Guardians stood alone, and walked along to a now open door, and piles of dead Hive.

"Holy shit." Ash said, causing her teammates to look at her.

"What you haven't seen carnage like this?" Blitz said with a laugh.

"No…" Ash said, looking around. "I've never seen so many hive just piled up like this." She said looking at a pile that reached the second floor balconies. "We should, keep going." She said.

"Did the Fallen do this?" Fluff asked.

"Coulda been Mythic." Blitz said.

"I doubt it was either, move." Ash said pushing Blitz along.

"Woah hey what's the rush?" Blitz asked.

"Isn't rushing our thing, plus, I want to get out of here fast in case we, run into whatever did that? It wasn't for a ritual…" She said. Fluff rushed up by them as his Ghost appeared.

"Hey, I was looking at the Fallen comms while you all bickered about whatever did a favor to us and saw that one of the barons are here! We should kill it!" She said.

"It'd take our mind off that pile of corpses" Fluff said.

"Indeed it would." Ash said. The group moved forward till they came to another conflict between Fallen and hive, and a Captain was taking on two Knights, and winning.

"He seems good and swordsmanship." Blitz said as the captain took out the Knights and roared in victory.

"He's mine." Ash said and rushed at him. Fluff and Blitz shrugged and took to keeping everything else off her.

Ash fired a few rounds from her pulse rifle, the Captains shields flaring as it turned to her and roared.

"Just getting your attention big guy." She said and put her rifle away, and pulled out a sidearm and her knife. "I'd like to duel, me and you." She said. The Baron looked quizzical, but growled and barked out to his men, and took a prepared stance. Ash nodded and got ready. An arc shot passed between them, and the two ran at each other.

Ash shot her sidearm, busting the Barons shields and slashed at his Legs as she felt two blades press against her shields as she slid by. She put more shots into the Baron until her gun clicked. She saw a glint to her right and snapped her fingers moving her arms back, a flash of light and she had moved behind herself. She had Blinked, a sort of short range teleport.

The captain looked up at hear and roared as it flashed forward, swords all crossed and swung out in an X, surprising Ash as it had somehow set that as it teleported and slashed through her shields and her armor.

"Damn, nice hit." She muttered as she reloaded her pistol. She fired half her clip before rushing the Baron, throwing her pistol up and over the baron and slamming her hand into the baron, sticking a Flux grenade to his chest, before blinking and catching her gun as the grenade exploded, causing the Baron to roar in pain. She swiftly turned and shot forward, blinking and stabbing the Baron in the back. Its roar became a silent choking cry as it slumped down and fell off her knife.

"Sorry, you would have started cheating had you realized you were going to lose." She said and threw her knife up, holstered her pistol and then caught her knife and sheathed it.

"Show off!" Blitz said.

"Like you wouldn't brag." She said walking to the next room. Kora appeared beside her.

"Path on the left." He said, a glitch to his voice, the word the being stretched out.

"Let's finish quickly, Fallen and Hive wanna beef, we pass em up." Fluff said.

"Sure sure, let's go!" Blitz said and the three started running, passing several enemies, causing them to roar out before the other side of their conflict took them out. They got into a corridor and Mable appeared and closed the door behind them before catching up.

"There it is." Ash said. Beyond a hole in the wall was a large black orb with several strips of orange, and several needle like arms were scratching the orb as it rotated.

"And Hive!" Blitz said as he fired, the group looked over to see Thrall rushing them and Acolytes taking cover.

"Blinding!" Blitz said throwing a flashbang, the explosion causing the Thrall to stumble and fall. Fluff shot his Hand cannon, blasting some Acolytes as Ash blinked ahead and Blitz tore into the Thrall. Ash ran ahead, taking down Acolytes with a well-placed burst, until a few Knights showed up with an Ogre, which she threw a Flux Grenade at, sticking it to the monsters face and exploding, harming the Knights, who fired their boomers at her. She ran and took cover and sighed.

"Fun. Ogre!" She shouted as a stream of purple blasts flew overhead, causing Blitz and Fluff to take cover.

"Fluff!" Blitz shouted.

"I'll distract!" Ash shouted as she jumped on top of the pillar she was at as Fluff took off sprinting. Ash hip fired her rifle at the Knights, Blitz taking the Ogre's attention. Ash had to duck back down, hearing Fluff's footsteps above her, she grinned.

Fluff jumped up and gathered void in his right hand, and swiped his hand right, sending three small Nova Bombs out, the bombs landing in between the Ogre and the Knights, killing them all.

"Nice!" Blitz said running a head. Ash nodded as he ran by and slammed a fresh magazine into her rifle and ran after him, Fluff already with him. They had no resistance as they reached the shrine, and walked underneath it where a Pillar lit up a small area.

"Kora, you're on." Ash said as her battle-scarred Ghost appeared.

"Let's seeeee, tethered. Something far beyond our system. I break the link, it gets unstable. You shoot it. We all hope we stay on this plane of existence." He said.

"Sounds normal." Blitz said. Fluff walked out from underneath the Shrine. Suddenly, a large door started to open.

"Company." Fluff said. Acolytes and Thrall ran out. "Easy company."

"Sounds nice." Ash said smiling under her helmet. Suddenly large footsteps could be heard.

"Ogre!" Blitz said and ran out with Ash. But what came through those doors was not an Ogre, but a massive knight.

"Hoooly shit." Fluff said looking up at it. Mable pinged their comms.

"Hey that guys being pinged as Sardok…Eye of Oryx!" She said.

"He's important team, take him down!" Blitz shouted.

The Knight roared and fired his boomer, three rabid shots heading for Blitz. He jumped back as they exploded on the ground in front of him. Ash started firing on the Thralls as a ball of purple flew overhead, landing between three Acolytes, causing a circle to expand and contract, sending out balls of void to the Acolytes, killing them. Blitz lit up the Knight the shots impacting but Sardok didn't even flinch. He fired more bursts, blasting apart Blitz's shield and sending him back under the shrine.

"Hey this guy's got me pinned!" He shouted as he flinched from more explosions.

"Fluff, help him, I'll clear out his attendees!" Ash shouted.

"You got it!" Fluff shouted. And started firing his hand canon at Sardok, grabbing his attention. Ash holstered her rifle and pulled out her knife as Arc danced on her body, and she got low and shot forward, her knife glowing a white blue. She ran around and cut up the Hive she met.

Blitz ran out from cover and tossed a Pulse grenade at Sardok's chest, landing it dead on as he pulled out a Machine gun and started unloading as Fluff started unloading shotgun shells into him, Sardok raised his fist and slammed it down, sending Fluff flying back into the shrine. Blitz kept firing as Sardok looked over, only for a Grenade to land on his head and explode, causing him to roar in pain as Ash ran over with a Fusion rifle and blasting his arms with shots from the weapon.

"Hell yeah!" Blitz said and ran up, using his Lift to thrust him into the air and slam his knee into Sardok's face, causing him to stumble as a rocket hit his knee. Fluff fired a second at the other. Sardok knocked Blitz away as the other fired on him, Sardok was weak.

"Blitz! Now!" Ash shouted Blitz Lifted into the air and Arc charged his body as he flew down and slammed into Sardoks chest and knocked him to the ground, the blast of Arc causing the lights to dim for a second. Blitz stood as Sardok lay unmoving.

"Woo!" Blitz shouted followed by a laugh.

"Hey, shoot the Shrine, the big black ball." Kora said floating over to Ash. The three looked at each other and started shooting, until it condensed into a small ball and exploded.

"Well, whatever they were talkin to with that, aint getting many more updates." Fluff said laughing.

"Right, let's go home." Ash said.

"Activating Transmat!" Jericho said. The three felt, a wave of darkness, and turned to face it before they were in their ships, orbiting the moon.

"What, was that?" Blitz asked.

"I haven't been scared in quite a while." Fluff said. "I'd rather go home."

Ash gave a shaking sigh. "Whatever was coming was, way out of our league." She said. Their ships started to head home.

"Something down there was pissed." Ash said to herself. "Kora?"

"It was what I was tracking. I lost track of it until that point, I sped up the process before it locked us down there." He said.

"Good, thank you, we have one fun report at least." Ash said.

The ships flew to the tower, ready to give theior report, and win Cayde's bet."

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DBA: Hey again sorry for that loooong wait but things popped up. Shouldn't be like that from now on. Hope you all enjoyed!


	12. The Chamber

DWA: Hey all, Hope ya enjoyed the Last Chapter, The Moons almost done, then we move on to Venus! Just a bit more!

Reviews:  
Karatori-Ki: Thank you!

 **Chapter 12: The Chamber**

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Ikora looked at Sara, Alsyf, and Theoduin, with an intense disbelief. If Sara wasn't with Theoduin and Alsyf, she would have broken down from her Master's gaze.

"So, nothing special really happened when you, grabbed, not shot not blew up, _grabbed,_ Crota's sword." Cayde said, sounding disappointed.

"Besides a pull on my light, correct. Nothing. I killed the Swarm Princes with the help of my Fireteam as well as fight hordes of Hive, then the sword fell to pieces in my hands. I, recovered a shard if you want to study it." She said and held it up, she hadn't actually touched the thin sliver of Hive steel, it was floating above her hand via her telekinesis.

"I'll take it Sara." She said as Sara moved it over to her. Ikora held it in her hands. "There is, a definite pull on my light, even from a small sliver." She said. "We will study its properties."

"Good work Guardians. You destroyed a terrifying weapon, and the souls of the many we lost, rest a bit easier after today." Zavala said.

"I'm just annoyed she just, grabbed the sword! I was near it once, I ever tell you that? I coulda grabbed it but the second I got near I just felt, ugh, disgusted. Then ya know a few Ogres and many Knights later I was late for a card game so I had to leave." He said shrugging. Everyone stared at him.

"True story." He said with a shrug. "Either way you all did great, so, enjoy the day!" He said.

"Indeed. Dismissed Guardians." He said. The three walked out, and Sara gave a wave to Shaxx, who gave a wave back.

"Sara" He said.

"Sir?" Sara asked as they all looked back.

"I lost many good friends at that, pointless battle. To see the weapon destroyed, fills me with a sort of happiness. Keep fighting Guardian." He said. Sara gave a smile and the three walked to a corner of the plaza.

"Sooo, wanna talk?" Alsyf asked as he sat down on the railing. Sara leaned forward on the railing with him.

"Not exactly." She said.

"How ya feeling?" Theoduin asked leaning back on the railing

"Terrified that I may hurt you, and excited to learn more." She said.

"Careful Warlock." Alsyf said.

"I know I know. Guardians shouldn't fuss with the Darkness and all that but…I can't exactly get rid of it. If anything, I'll learn how to use it without going crazy." She said.

"I'd rather you not use it at all." Alsyf said. "It's dangerous, and our enemy."

"So am I your enemy?" She asked.

"I don't think you'll be one." He said.

"Yeah…" She said.

"Sara you're our Fireteam leader, we got your back, no matter what." Theoduin said. "We're Mythic, and we've always got each other's backs." He said.

"You're right. Thanks guys." She said. "I'm heading home. See you later." She said and walked off, and went to her room and sat on the couch. "Seraph." She said. Seraph appeared beside her.

"Are you okay?" He asked. If you could discern emotions from his blue eye, it'd be concern.

"Play the footage from that fight." She said.

"Huh? If you plan to study it you won't get anything." He said. "There isn't much to glean."

"It's for my own caution Seraph. Play it." She said. Seraph sighed and loaded it onto the screen.

She watched it again and again, a reminder, to what she could become. Yet, she did glean one thing, she seemed far stronger physically while under the Darkness' influence.

If anything, it worried her if that had any meaning on their fight against the Darkness.

She ended up falling asleep on the couch.

A week later Sara was modifying her ship with Amanda. It was going as well as anyone could expect from a rookie.

"There?" She asked as she connected two wires.

"No not like that!" She said and backed up and Sara received quite the shock.

"FUCK!" She shouted and fell off her ship and landed hard. "Ooooh fuck that hurts."

"Oh come now you've had worse." She said.

"Yeah! And died! The dying part stops the pain!" She said and used her glide to get back on her ship. Amanda was fixing her mistake.

"You don't learn without some pain Sara." She said. Sara huffed and started watching her work. Sara figured she'd mod the ship by optimizing its interior first, and then leaving lots of room for other modifications, work on that later. The outside of the ship she was planning for a sleeker look, more angular or, something.

She'd work it out.

"Well that's both wings, baby should hit way high speeds now." She said as she started putting the panel on as two ships arrived in the hanger. Alsyf and Theoduin's.

"Huh?" She said and looked over the edge as the two transmatted down.

"What are you two doing here?" She called.

"Oh good, you're here!" Alsyf said. "Got a strange request, three of us gotta see the Speaker!"

"What for?" She asked.

Alsyf shrugged.

"Hey, might be actual work that you can go on, instead of ya know, working on the ship." Theoduin said.

"Go on Guardian, I'll make sure she's ready to fly in no time." Amanda said.

"Fine fine." Sara jumped down as her armor formed around her before she landed. "Let's go."

"Still working on the jumper?" Theoduin said.

Sara punched his arm as she walked by.

"Rude." Alsyf laughed as he walked ahead.

"He deserved it." Sara said shrugging. The group went to the Speakers chamber, where he looked down on the squad.

"Fireteam Mythic, you've been making waves." He said. "An Archon, Sepiks, the Sword of Crota. You fiddle with the fringes of the Dark, and come back unscathed." He said. Sara nearly started fidgeting. What was it about this man that made her feel he knew everything? She maintained her calm appearance.

"I want to give you congratulations, and I will, later." He said turning to them fully, hands behind his back. "We have reason to believe the Hive are draining the Traveler of its light, preventing it from healing." He said.

"Wait what!?" Sara said, she had a few questions, mainly how, and for how long.

"That, can't be good." Theoduin said, and grunted when he was elbowed by Alsyf.

"Even you're not that stupid." He said.

"We don't know how, but whatever power or ritual they have. It must be understood, and destroyed." He said. Sara started bouncing just a bit. The Speaker gave a curt laugh. "I thought you would enjoy this Sara, reports say you've taken an interest in the Hive. Just remember not to end up like Toland, his obsession, destroyed him."

"I know sir." She said. "I'll be sure to understand what I can, and we'll stop whatever they're doing." She said

"Good, I expect great things from you all. Good luck." He said. The three nodded and ran to their ships, and like Amanda said, hers was ready to fly. They made for the moon.

"Hello helloooo Mythic!" Blitz's voice came on the radio. "Lettin ya know we scouted a route best we could to where the ritual is taking place. We had to, retreat because something was coming. Seems to have left by now." Sara smiled, hearing her friend's voice.

"Understood Blitzkrieg, were should we touch down?" She asked.

"Outside the temple, we'll be waiting!" He said.

"How nice of them, if they want cookies and milk they'll have to look elsewhere though." Alsyf said.

"Oh just buy em a round if it helps." Sara said as they came out of warp and flew down. They flew over the temple and were transmatted onto the ground. The group was a bit scattered, Blitz actually waiting, arms crossed, Fluff typing on a datapad, and Ash sitting on a balcony, one leg dangling. She waved to them.

"Nice! Glad to see you all again." Blitz said and fistbumped Theoduin. Sara waved at Ash, who put two fingers to her forehead and swiped them outwards.

"Your target is a dark chamber." Fluff said. "Darkest of em, should be easy to track. But we also sensed a really powerful entity in there, we got out before it found us." He said.

"Suggestion? If it confronts you, get out." Ash said.

"Now, about what else you'll face." Blitz said. Seraph suddenly appeared in the middle of the group.

"High priority message incoming, might be the Speaker, patching you all in." he said as he opened up. The message was distorted at first, but cleared up.

"You're all rather interesting. Not entirely interesting as of yet, but promising." A female voice said.

"Who…?" Ash muttered.

"Who is this?" Sara asked.

"Guardians, I know what you're about to do, but there are enemies out there. Enemies stronger than anything you've faced. More terrifying than what you've seen." She said. "Than _any_ of you have seen."

Ash looked down and hopped off the balcony. "Does she know we're here!?" Ash said.

"Go, face the Hive. If you live, come find me. Ash." She said. The group looked at each other. "You were right to run."

"Losing it." Seraph said.

"Wait don't you drop that call! The hell you mean I was right to run!?" She shouted as Seraph closed up.

"Lost it, sorry Ash." Seraph said.

"But, why just Ash? We all ran." Blitz said. "Ash?"

Ash turned away. "See you at home." She said and transmatted out.

"That's…odd. We'll try and sort that out. Good luck." Fluff said and transmatted out. Blitzed nodded and did the same.

Sara looked at her teammates. "Alright, I guess we go in." She said.

"One last thing, the message cut out with coordinates on Venus. When we get out of here we can check them out." Seraph said.

"Sounds like a plan." Alsyf said.

"Let's do it Mythic!" Theoduin said thrusting his fist into the air. The two nodded and ran into the temple, and went down. The found a large hive structure beneath the top level.

"What's that?" Alsyf asked.

"Hive Seeder…more invasion tools." Sara said.

"We don't finish this, lots more will head our way soon." Silvia said.

"Movement!" Athena said, and the peace they'd had was interrupted by void bolts.

"Well, let's go!" Sara said and spun around the corner and started shooting the Hive. They fought their way down the halls. Thrall constantly rushed them. As they cut through the Hive they came to a large room filled with thrall, even ones that seemed to scream in despair as they ran at the three.

"Uh hey guys, they're glowing!" Alsyf said. Sara shot one in the head, and it exploded, causing a chain reaction, the rest detonating as well.

"Jeez! Don't let them get close." Theoduin said as he ducked behind a wall as boomer shots landed around them.

"Damn! On it!" Alsyf shouted as he got out his sniper and poked his head out, then rolled prone. His rifle rang out in the cavern, as Knights fell, and Sara ran out of cover and threw a Scatter Grenade, killing some acolytes and Theoduin ran into the next room.

"We're close." Athena said.

"Something…Dark is on sensors!" Seraph said.

"We finish, Seraph time before it gets here?" Sara said shooting at Thrall as Theoduin tossed a Pulse grenade at Hive behind cover, forcing them out to be shot by Alsyf's sniper.

"Ten minutes max!" Seraph shouted.

"Plenty of time!" Alsyf said as he ran to catch up with the group. The hive fell to their gunfire as they all met up at a door.

"This is it." Sara said.

"It's dark in there." Athena said. "Sara-"

"Let's go." Sara said as the door opened. She felt it, a tug, a reminder that she could always go back to that thing. They walked in, three Wizards seemed to be chanting. Between them was an object, shrouded in Darkness

"Sara?" Theoduin whispered. "Mind translating?"

"Uhm, something something Darkness? I don't have a book on me for this!" She whispered back.

"Oh let's just shoot them!" Alsyf shouted and started firing his hand cannon. The three looked at them and all screamed. The other doors to the room started to open, as Hive could be heard running to the room.

"Gonna be crowded!" Sara said as Void light gathered in her right hand as she jumped up and sent out a Nova Bomb, hitting a Wizard and killing it instantly, the large Vortex Field left hurt the other two, destroying their shields. Hive started to pour into the room.

"Right, time for some fun!" Sara said throwing a Scatter grenade into the thrall as she ran in pulling out her Sawed off.

"Theoduin, take care of the Wizards!" Alsyf said joining Sara, hand cannon going off.

"Awesome." Theoduin said as the two wizards shot Darkness Blasts at him. He ran and ducked behind cover, taking out his rocket Launcher, and fired it as he got out of cover, killing another Wizard. Suddenly he was covered in a black fog.

"Ah shit!" He said as he slowed as pain coursed through him. He pulled out his Auto rifle and pushed through the fog and tossed a pulse grenade, hitting the Wizard, and destroying her shields again. He then lit it up with lead before his rifle clicked. He put the weapon on his back and he ran at the Wizard and jumped up, and with an Arc charged knee, slammed into the Wizard, disintegrating it.

"Wizards are dead!" He said.

"Cool great HELP!" Sara shouted. Theoduin looked past the dark object to see Sara and Alsyf back to back, using abilities on overdrive to keep enemies away from them, as well as simply gunning them down. Theoduin laughed as his body became charged in Arc energy as he ran out and jumped up, slamming down in the middle of the massive group, killing most of the Thrall and Acolytes.

"Awesome!" Sara said sounding tired. "Clean up!" She said as she pulled out her Fusion rifle. Suddenly a louder than normal roar was heard, and a large Ogre charged in. "Alsyf!" Sara shouted.

"On it!" He said as he lifted his hand cannon up and it became covered in golden flames. He took aim and took three quick shots to its massive head, it recoiled at each shot, but just roared back and started shooting a continuous beam from its massive, eye. Alsyf had to take cover behind a pillar, killing acolytes shooting at him. The Ogre shifted its Gaze to Sara, before being hit by a Rocket from Theoduin, and Sara followed up with Fusion rifle fire. It roared and slammed the ground before firing at Theoduin, hitting him and pushing him back.

"Sara, go!" Aslyf said as he snipped the beast. Sara pulled out her shotgun and loaded it before running at hit.

"Open wide big guy!" She shouted jumping onto the side of its head and stuffed her gun into its mouth before firing twice, the first causing a bad cracking sound, the second was much more…squishy as it fell to the ground. She jumped off the beast and sighed.

"Finally." She said as most the rest of the hive retreated.

"So, what's this thing?" Theoduin asked poking the object.

"Don't touch it!" Alsyf said. Sara walked over to an odd device and had Seraph start to scan it.

"No way…" He said. The aura vanished to reveal what seemed to be a white rock, but what was coming off it was unmistakable.

"Is that…?" Theoduin started.

"Light!?" Alsyf shouted.

"It's…a shard…of the Traveler!" Seraph said.

"How did they get it!?" Sara said.

"No idea, but they were, perverting it, Draining the Traveler of its light. If we didn't stop it could have gotten much worse." Seraph said. The shard was transmatted to Sara's ship. Then so was the rest of the group.

"So, how did they do it?" Alsyf asked as they flew home.

"Obviously a very carefully planned ritual. But, this means Ulan Tan was right, in a couple things at least." Sara said.

"Who's that?" Theoduin asked.

"An exiled Warlock, who believed that Light and Dark must exist together. One balancing the other. And that Light is connected in all of Time and Space, same for the Darkness."

"I can see why he's Exiled, Dark and Light co-existing? Can't see it." Alsyf said. "But I see that connection…" He muttered.

"It's not coexisting per say, it's more, two sides of the same coin." Sara said.

"Look can we not debate philosophy and just get home?" Theoduin asked. Sara laughed.

"Sure buddy." Alsyf said and the three went home.

Sara had some work to do.

* * *

DWA: Hey all! This delay was caused by some new games coming out and me binging them! Otherwise I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review! It's fun to reply!


	13. The Summoning Pits

DWA: Heeey guys what's up? So with the announcement of Pokemon Sword and shield I've been thinking of doing both this and TAA, which may need a name change tbh unsure yet. It'd mean both get updated but, slower. Tell me what ya think!

 **CH 13: The Summoning Pits**

* * *

Sara was going over her Hive notes, trying to learn the written language of the creatures, better to learn now than later, not to mention her Eliksni learning was coming near naturally at this point.

"Do we have anything for this?" She said pointing to a symbol, Seraph looked it over.

"The best the vanguard has is two variations. Accursed and damned."

"Good enough." She said. "So, I'm surprised Theoduin and Alsyf haven't called in the last couple days.

"Covert Recon, something happening out near Moscow." Seraph said. "Ash is with them, I'm sure they're fine."

"Yeah I guess, just means more relaxation and studying for me." She said and kept pouring over her notes.

"Maybe you should get some fresh air." He said. "It has been nearly 14 hours since you even ate."

"…Yeah I guess you're right." She said closing her notebook. She said and sat up stretching, hearing numerous pops from her joints. "Oooof that's good!" She said as she put her hair in a ponytail and got her jacket and walked out. It was around early morning. She looked up at the Traveler.

"Wonder if you'll ever heal, but, I hope I helped." She said. She walked along and just, took a walk, enjoying the cool morning air.

"See, isn't this better than a stuffy room?" He asked.

"How would you know?" She asked looking at him.

"I…shut up." He said looking away.

"Oh don't give me that." She said laughing.

"So…any thoughts on what happened during the report?"

Sara sighed. Their report to the Vanguard was, not simple…

 _A couple days ago…_

Sara, Theoduin, and Alsyf stood as the Vanguard looked around.

"So, not only did the Hive grab a piece of the Traveler!" Cayde started.

"A, very small piece." Alsyf interrupted.

"Without burning to a crisp!" He said.

"Cayde you know that's not how it works." Sara said.

"But-!" Cayde stared.

"They were using it to halt the Traveler's healing process, are they doing it to other pieces?" Ikora wondered aloud.

"If they are we need to know." Zavala said.

"I think, we'll be fine." A voice said from behind Fireteam Mythic. The Fireteam turned to see the Speaker.

"The details given suggest, it took quite some time to prepare and conduct the ritual. Perhaps years. Attune to the Light, and get Wizards able to even do it." He said walking past the fireteam.

"They won't be able to do this for years, and if they do it again, well, we have a Fireteam who has something to say about that." He said turning to the group.

"Take their ritual and shove it up their ass!" Theoduin said.

"Colorful." The Speaker said. "Either way it is concerning, how they were able to do this…" He said.

"Uhm, maybe one of Ulan Tan's Theories was correct Speaker." Sara said. The Speaker turned.

"Oh, which one?"

"Well, the Light being connected through all space-time, or at least space." She said.

"Yes, the least controversial. It would make sense in this context, but, maybe because it was a piece of the Traveler." He said. "Either way, good Job Mythic. Please, when you delve in the dark, don't stay so long as to forget the Light." He said and placed a hand on her Sara's shoulder, before walking off. Sara was tense as his hand was on her shoulder.

After all, He focused on her specifically. She could feel him looking at her through that mask.

 _Back to present day_

"Do you think he knows?" She asked.

"I doubt it. I think he's worried you'll end up like Toland." Seraph said.

"I guess that is fair with how much I look into the Hive and the Fallen." She said looking out into the city as she walked. She walked into a large open space, a food court of sorts, and saw Fluff at a table by himself going through records on a holo-display. She walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. The Exo looked back with his purple mechanical eyes.

"Well hey there Sara, what brings ya here?" He asked.

"Well, one, it's the food court so whatever I please, but in all honesty I'm just taking a break." She said.

"Ah, take a seat, I could use one too." He said and the chair across from him, was pushed out. Sara shrugged and sat down. "So whatcha been doin since we saw you's guys on the Moon?" Fluff asked.

"Theoduin and Alsyf have been on special recon missions in Russia, near Moscow." She said. "Me? Research and learning." She said.

"Nice nice." He said. "We've been doing our usual shtick, missions and more missions." He said.

"Hit 'em hard, hit 'em fast?" She asked.

"You know it." He said and Sara laughed.

"Oh, speaking of the moon…about Ash…" Sara said. Fluff looked to the side and gave a sigh.

"We pressed but she gave us a glare like I've never seen and told us to drop it. I swear even Blitz was about to pass out from the pressure she was giving off. Got me to thinkin how little I know of Ash. That's what I was doin here." He said

"You, were trying to access her record." Sara said.

"Yep, just basic stuff but, I'm fully locked out. Admin restrictions. Either she got a favor done or someone just don't want it public. One thing that's not cova'd is, her age. Ash told us she was resurrected five years ago. It's twice that."

"Ten years?" Sara said. "Why hide that?" She asked.

"Well, what's a Guardian of ten years doing without any real pals, or a Fireteam. All the Guardians have some group of pals they team up with on tougher missions. But, I see nothing. Ash keeps to herself. She's friends with you cause of us." He said.

"So, five years unaccounted for and five more years unreadable." Sara said.

"Ah don't worry you're head about it. I, have guesses but won't share yet. Don't wanna start rumors." He said. "So, going to Venus soon?" He asked. Sara looked confused.

"Alsyf told Blitz about the coordinates you received. We'd go but, we've signed up for lotsa missions." He said laughing.

"Ah I'm sure it's fine." She said. The two talked a bit before Seraph appeared and chimed in.

"Sara, Alsyf and Theoduin are back, and the Vanguard called us to the meeting chamber." He said. Sara sighed.

"Yeah yeah, catch ya round Fluffy." She said standing. Fluff gave a nodded and pulled up the Holo-display again as Sara walked off, her clothes replaced by armor in a flash of Light as she jogged to the Vanguard Hall, Theoduin and Alsyf already there.

"Hey guys, how'd it go?" She asked high fiving Theoduin and patting Alsyf on the shoulder getting between them.

"Hive and Fallen fighting there, beyond that not much." Alsyf said.

"That's not why we called you here." Zavala said.

"Guessed not sir." Sara said.

"So, after all ya done on the moon you'd think you get a break right?" Cayde said looking to Mythic, who just stared. "I was expecting a yes, anyways. You're going back in, Hive are doing something, and making a new big bad aaahhhhh what did you call it Ikora?" he asked

"Abomination?" She said looking at him. He clapped and pointed at her.

"Yes that! Kill it." He said looking to Mythic again.

"As brash as Cayde is, that's the long and short Mythic. Are you up to it? It's a Strike, just like Sepiks." Zavala asked with a small smile.

"Yes Commander!" The three shouted.

"Then get to it before they complete their creature." Ikora said. The group nodded and ran for their ships. The group hopped in and took off for the moon. They had a pretty standard flight, Alsyf and Theoduin bickered as Sara blared music over the comms to shut them up. They soon flew over the Hellmouth and Transmatted down.

"I still think this is a bad idea." Silvia said.

"You say that about near anything that puts a certain Titan in the line of danger." Sara said cocking her weapon.

"She's like a mom." Theoduin said.

"The issue is I can't ground you." Silvia said.

"Let's go guys." Alsyf said as he ran ahead.

"Someone's in a rush." Sara said running to catch up.

"Maybe he finally has a date." Theoduin said running after.

"Date!? No way, more like a sharpshooter challenge." She said laughing.

"No, just it's a Strike, and last time we got our asses kicked!" He said as they entered the Gatehouse. Their walk was, oddly peaceful as they arrived at a door with three locks on it. Sara looked around and gave a shaky sigh…this is where the Sword was housed.

"You good?" Theoduin asked.

"I'll…be fine." She said nodding. Their Ghosts appeared and went to a lock each.

"We shall open the doors." Athena said.

"So get ready, they won't be particularly happy with us." Seraph added as they started to get to work, and the doors of the chamber opened up, to let in a flood of Hive.

"Here we go." Sara muttered as she took aim. The three started unloading at the Thrall that were rushing at them, taking them out quickly. There was a shrill cry coming from the crowd, as a blue glow could be seen.

"Cursed Thrall!" Sara shouted. Aslyf double jumped up and fired a couple shots with his hand cannon to cause it to explode, taking many Thrall with it. Four Knights came in, one from each door, and started firing boomer shots.

"Scatter!" Theoduin shouted running left, Alsyf and Sara right, killing more Thrall. Theoduin tossed a Pulse grenade into the group, killing most of his Thrall before switching to his shotgun and killing one of his Knights. Sara tossed a Scatter Grenade at her Knights, dealing decent damage to them as Alsyf finished one with a Swarm Grenade. Sara took to shooting the rest of her Thrall as Alsyf rush the Last knight and jumped on its back and took out his Knife and jabbed it into its Middle eye. It roared weakly as it went limp and fell to the ground. He looked over to see Theoduin knock down the other Knight from the balcony and finish it off with his rocket Launcher, holding it in one hand.

"He thinks he looks sooo cool." He said laughing. He looked over.

"I do, bitch!" He shouted back. Sara sighed as she finished off the last Thrall, and a loud gong like sound was heard as one of the locks vanished.

"One down, two to go!" Seraph said.

"Rule of three." Sara sighed as she reloaded. This time, Acolytes poured out of the room, as did a couple Knights with swords. The three started shooting as they moved around the room, Alsyf taking the middle. As Sara was firing she heard heavy footsteps and turned to see a Knight mid swing.

"Oh fuck-" She said as she was cleaved. The knight roared in victory.

"Oh ya hate to see it where was her situational awareness!?" Theoduin shouted as Alsyf rolled his eyes and tossed an incendiary grenade up to where she died, the explosion knocking away some Acolytes as Alsyf double jumped and fired his rocket launcher, clearing space and killing the Knight. He ran over and rezzed Sara, who reformed standing. Sara shook her head.

"Thanks pal." She said. Alsyf nodded and walked off the platform, Sara hearing the blasts of his hand canon. From three doors came a wizard each, their screams ringing in the room.

"Oh fuck right off!" Sara shouted getting her fusion rifle out. She ran for the closest as one died nearly immediately to Theoduin's rocket. The other two shot off their darkness blasts. Alsyf took cover as he heard Sara's fusion rifle blast. After his Wizard's barrage ended he spun around the pillar he was hiding behind and shot with his sniper, taking out her shields, the next shot straight to the head, killing it. As if on cue, a gong was heard.

"Two down, get ready!" Silvia said. The third group poured in just as the three finished reloading.

Thrall, Acolytes, Knights, and a Wizard poured in, the wizard screeching, using her magic to curse her Thralls. The three started shooting, Theoduin forced to take cover from an onslaught of Boomer and Darkness blasts.

"Stuck here!" He shouted. Sara was covered in void light and jumped up before launching her Nova Bomb, killing a large portion of the group with the explosion.

"Got your back!" She shouted as she was pelted by Acolytes and had to take cover. A Swarm Grenade to the Wizard, and a Pulse to block passage by thralls to Theoduin allowed the two to take out the rest of the group, leaving an unshielded Wizard, who screamed and fired her Darkness Blasts wildly.

"That's sad." Sara said as she took aim, the three firing on her, ending her as she let out a wail, turning to ash. The last lock broke and their ghosts went to them.

"We're done, let's go." Athena said. The group ran through the caverns to end up at a shipyard, having passed it on their way to the World's Grave.

"Left, some Knights guarding where we need to go." Athena said. The group ran by most enemies, Theoduin punching one in the face to knock it over before they could react to the Guardians rushing them. Alsyf tackling the other as Sara blasted it with her sawed off, Theoduin shotgunning his point blank.

The Knight's dead, they walked into a large chamber, a massive Ogre chained up, several hive around as it raged and thrashed.

"Well…it's chained up at least." Seraph said.

"Why…why would you say that?" Sara asked as the creature roared loudly and broke its chains, most of the hive running out of the room. Its head turned to them as it growled.

"You had to say something." Alsyf said.

"Scatter!" Theoduin shouted. The group did that as it started using its eye beam. Theoduin dashed right, Sara left and Alsyf went to the closest pillar below. Sara started shooting it as it followed her.

Theoduin set up and fired a rocket, the explosion knocking it off balance as Alsyf fired off his hand cannon. It raised its arms up as energy gathered, and it slammed down, a wave of energy rushing through the arena, it was large.

"Pillars!" Alsyf said as he ran up his a bit before double jumping on the top. Theoduin used his Lift, and Sara, her Glide. Though the wave of energy was gone, the ground was covered in energy.

"Shit…" Alsyf said as he pulled out his rifle.

"Alsyf, the chest." Athena said. He looked through his scope, to see what looked to be a seal or its heart.

"Guys hit the thing on its chest!" Alsyf shouted as he shot, the Ogre roaring in pain as it looked right at Alsyf.

"Oh uh, grab it attention too!" He shouted as he put his rifle on his back and took put his knife as he jumped down behind the pillar and jamming the knife into it. With his free hand he pulled out his Hand cannon and balanced himself and started firing at the Ogre as he heard Sara's machine gun unloading in the creature.

"How long's the ground gonna be like that!?" Sara shouted as her belt ran out and she started reloading. She was hit by the eye beam, and her shields shattered as she hopped down and grabbed the pillar and tried to reload with her telekinesis and her one hand. An electrical explosion rang out, followed by another and another, with gunfire ringing out. Sara looked down as the dark energy seemed to fade.

"Ground's good! Super's out people!" She called out as she collected void light. Alsyf hopped on top of is pillar and raised his hand cannon up into the air, it was covered in solar power.

Theoduin jumped down and ran at the beast, Arc energy lingering where he stepped. Sara threw her Nova bomb, three shots from Alsyf's Golden gun, and hitting with the bomb, Theoduin jumped and pooled his power into one hand, and slammed it into the heart of the creature, it roared in pain and swung its arm, slamming into Theoduin, who was sent flying through a pillar and into the back wall. Theoduin fell to the ground, pretty dead.

"Guardian down!" Silvia shouted.

"I'm honestly surprised it's alive." Alsyf said as it looked at him. It shout a quick beam that connected with him and it's heard started to glow. "Oh no." He said. It roared, screaming to the sky as bursts of darkness shot from its chest, flying out and towards Alsyf.

"Get Theoduin!" He shouted to Sara as he jumped down and started running as the darkness chased him down. Sara took off across the room, behind the massive Ogre, who turned to look at her.

"Oh fuck off!" She shouted as she jumped and gained the height she needed with Glide as it fired its beam attack at her. She took covered as she heard a couple explosions from the other side of the room. The second the beam stopped splashing on her cover she ran out, and revived Theoduin with her Light.

"Owww." He said as he rolled his shoulders and got up.

"Still need you buddy. Luckily this things just a ball of rage instead of a machine god eh?" She said and ran off. Theoduin stood still for a bit before saying "Servitors are Machine gods?" Before he ducked from the Ogres blast. More explosions were heard as Aslyf had managed to outrun the Darkness chasing him.

"Fuck I'm tired of this thing." He said as he started unloading his Rocket shots. Theoduin followed suit as Sara blasts it with her Fusion rifle. It started roaring and acting frantically as in repeatedly slamming the ground, sending out shock waves. The three hopped up on pillars.

"Sara, still got your sawed off!?" Alsyf shouted.

"Yeah! Why?" She asked.

"Get close and blast its heart!" Theoduin said as he started shooting with his auto rifle. Sara sighed and put her fusion rifle away and pulled out her sawed off.

"Make an opening." She said reluctantly. She did not want to get close to that thing.

"Atta girl!" HEY UGLY!" Theoduin roared. He recalled Sara telling him and Alsyf that Ogre's are just Thralls tortured with the Light, or something. So, he flared up his Arc light, like he was using Fist of Havoc. The Ogre's head snapped towards him and roared. "I regret this." He muttered as its heart glowed a dark black as it charged up. Sara hopped off her pillar and started sprinting, seeing the energy pooling. She slid underneath the beast and aimed up, right at the heart.

"I'm gonna regret this!" She said as she pulled the trigger heard, causing both shells to be expended, the shot tearing through the heart, and causing the darkness to explode, engulfing the middle of the room, including Sara in the Dark.

Sara woke up in pitch black darkness, yet she was on solid ground, something she wasn't used to.

"And who are you?" A voice said. She looked around.

"Who said that!?" She said reaching for a gun, but found nothing.

"A wayward wanderer? Or something that belongs? No, no, no, none fit. An accident? Yes, and lo the Light calls you Warlock. Such a brief encounter. Best it stay that way." The voice said, its last statement sounding sinister.

"Hold up who are you!" She said as her vision brightened. She'd been revived. She gasped, taking a large breath.

"Hey, you good?" Alsyf asked. He was crouched over her, looking down at her.

"Yeah…what happened?" She asked.

"You got killed by the explosion." Theoduin said. "Took half a minute for us to revive you."

"That…is odd." She said sitting up. "I have a vision. I was on solid ground, surrounded by nothing. Someone talked to me. More like thinking out loud…come to think of it, probably not a vision…" She said standing. "Thanatonautics?" She wondered out loud. Alsyf and Theoduin looked at eachother and shrugged. Their radios came to life.

"Guardians, I sense the abomination has been destroyed. Good work." Ikora said.

"No problem ma'am!" Theoduin said.

"Come home for some rest, more jobs will show up for you soon." She said. The three looked at each other and nodded, as they transmatted to her ship.

Though there will be new jobs, Sara had a plan, Venus.

She had questions, and that woman would have answers.

* * *

DBA: Hey all! Hope ya liked the longer chapter! If you wanna see me do this and TAA please leave it in a review or DM me! I'll update both obviously but, at my normal irregular pace (sorry for my pace by the way). I'll announce after the next chapter!


	14. A Stranger's Call

DWA: hey All, so far no suggestions on whatcha want. To those who haven't read TAA, I suggest giving it a try! Until then, I'll keep pluggin along! Also! Please note that the order of events is mainly based on a reddit post I found, that shows all Destiny 1 events in chronological order. I'll be sticking with it for the most part, as it does make a good amount of sense, but will move things around as needed. Thought I'd let ya know!

* * *

 **Chapter 14: The Stranger**

Sara was, at a loss. She'd brought her data of the Stranger to the Vanguard. They didn't know who this person was, and what's more, told them to not investigate until they had more data. While she thought she'd done the right thing, she's been regretting it as she's now stuck doing patrol missions.

"I'm, very bored." She said as she turned on her side, looking at her nightstand. Seraph appeared in her face.

"Blitzkrieg did offer." He said.

"Yes but another mission on the moon? It's all most Guardians do nowadays! I mean yeah Guardians go all over but we've stays off the moon for the most part in fear of Crota!" She said sitting up.

"Why is Ishtar off limits?" She asked.

"According to the Vanguard, the Ishtar Sink is off limits because of a heavy Fallen and Vex presence, that, and the Vault of Glass." He said.

"The…Vault?" She asked.

"It's…a tragedy. Some other time." He said looking away.

"Right…" She said. "Well, regardless we need to go!" She said. "I'm curious and so are the guys!"

"But to disobey the Vanguard would probably cause more trouble than it's worth!" Seraph said. Sara sighed, knowing he was right, but, she had a nagging feeling.

She needed to go.

"Fuck it." She said as she called Alsyf and Theoduin.

"What's up boss?" Theoduin asked.

"Wanna help me see if my new upgrades on my ship work?" She asked.

"Why…do we need to go?" Alsyf asked.

"I don't know, I thought it'd be nice to see if they're working from outside a computer screen. And ya know, my current flight path seems to take me near Venus." She said. There was silence on the line.

"Sara, you're not really thinking…." Theoduin said.

"Are you saying we may just have some, 'complications,' along the way?" Alsyf asked.

"They are engine upgrades. Who knows how they'll react to a jump!" She said.

"Sara like I said-hey!" Seraph started before he was pushed away by a hand. "You guys in? It just may affect your engines too!" She said sitting up.

"We're in, we'll make sure you get home safely Sara." Theoduin said laughing.

"Get here soon." Alsyf said. Sara had a big grin as she hopped up and her armor appeared on her.

"I hate you." Seraph said.

"No you don't." She said pinching his two side diamonds.

"Hey ow stop that!" He said.

"Come on!" She said as she ran to the hanger. Seraph sighed and followed her. She got to her other Fireteam members waiting in their armor.

"Hey Mythic, where ya heading." Holliday asked as she seemed to be finishing something up on Sara's ship.

"Just gonna test those engines." Sara said.

"Ah they're solid." She said jumping down. "I'll be sure to log it as test run though." She said as she passed.

"She knows." Alsyf said.

"Without a doubt." Sara said transmatting to her ship, Alsyf and Theoduin doing the same.

"How many "test runs" does she log a week I wonder." Theoduin said laughing.

"Probably too many." Sara said as they took off. When they were out of atmosphere, there warped.

Not too long into the jump, Sara got on comms again.

"Hey, thanks for doing this guys." She said.

"Hey, we wanna see this person too." Theoduin said.

"I'm sure we all have questions, its cool." Alsyf said. Sara smiled. She knew this team would have her back.

"Coming out of warp." Athena said over comms. They came out of the jump and saw the sister planet to Earth, and flew down.

"By the way, examining the frequency and such of how our new 'friend' contacted us…its weird. Basically, she shouldn't have been able to contact us from Venus with her frequency, yet, she did, even if there was static" Seraph said.

"Weird." Alsyf said.

"So, she called us from Venus? Why's that weird, I guarantee the Vanguard could get us on Pluto." Theoduin said.

"Yes but, that's with relays and the comm's tower in the city. This was a personal broadcaster. What's in your helmet, that has maybe a country's worth range without connecting to relays, and she wasn't on a relay channel." Seraph said.

"Oh…" Theoduin said.

"So, all the more reason to find our new friend." Alsyf said as he sped down towards the planet. The other two followed.

"Athena, sitrep?" Alsyf asked.

"Ishtar Collective. Studied ruins older than Humanity." She said.

"On Venus?" Sara asked.

"Correct. That massive tower is an…example." She said. Sara looked out her window to see the massive tower of sharp angular shapes, mainly squares that seem to have been just, piled together.

The group transmatted to the ground, the three checking their weapons. Silvia appeared near Theoduin.

"I don't know about you, but being here without the lay of the land is a terrible idea. Guardians have an outpost nearby we can check." She said.

"Sound's good. Mythic, move out!" She said. The three started walking towards some old buildings in disarray.

Following the streets they saw a bus stop in the distance, covered in Fallen.

"Alsyf?" Sara said as she walked closer and raised her rifle.

"Got ya covered." Alsyf said as he jumped into one of the buildings and made his way to a vantage point and set up. "Pop." He said and fired his rifle, taking out a Captains shields as the rest of the Fallen looked to where the shot came from, only to be shout at by Sara, and pot shots from Theoduin, his rifle made for shorter range combat. Alsyf shot the captain again, killing it, Sara and Theoduin cleaning up.

Sara walked up to a terminal the Guardians had set up and started accessing.

"Let me." Seraph said as he appeared and took over. Sara threw her hands up in mock annoyance.

"I had it!" She said.

"In ten minutes." Seraph said.

"I am not that bad with tech." She said.

"Whatever. Either way, we're in, data on the Vex too. Sending it to your Ghosts, nothing me and Sara don't already know." He said.

"Oh I do not like that." Silvia said.

"So we have resilient, super intelligent, ruthless teleporting machines all over Venus huh?" Athena said.

"Fun." Alsyf said.

"Note, shoot the glowing white part." Sara said as she started messing with the tech.

"What are you doing?" Theoduin asked.

"Juuust trying to, OW!" She shouted as there was a spark and the screen went dark. "Trying to hotwire…there!" She said and the screen came back online. "Sparrow Link with obscurity! No one knows we have the authority to use Sparrows but us, not that we're supposed to be here." She said as she summoned her sparrow.

"Very nice." Alsyf said as he jumped out the building and summoned his in midair. Theoduin called his as well.

"Where too boss?" Theoduin asked.

"Seraph?" Sara asked.

"Over here." He said and a waypoint appeared on their HUD's. The three took off.

"What's there?" Alsyf asked.

"A set of sensors used to track the Vex, should be helpful for us once we make the modifications to your sensors." He said.

"Sound's good!" Sara said as she revved up her Sparrow and took off, the others following close by. Their drive through the campus of the Collective was short lived.

"There, that building!" Silvia said. The guardians slowed down, and Arc shots came out of the building.

"Woah!" Alsyf said and they hopped off their sparrows as they transmatted. Theoduin and Sara ran forward as Alsyf ran back to a large folded up piece of road and hopped behind it. Sara and Theoduin took cover at a window. Sara took out her sawed off.

"Thanks for the heads up guys." Sara said as she peeked up, only to be met with the warbling cry of a Servitor in her face.

"Wassup my guy." She said and put her sawed off to its eye, and pulled hard, both barrels blasting out and pushing it back pretty far as it cried out and buffed its allies.

A sniper shot passed her head and pierced the Servitor and caused it to detonate, unstable ether staggering the Fallen. Theoduin hopped in through the window and blasted them with his shotgun.

"Clear!" He said as the Ghosts appeared and flew over to a device and started scanning it, Alsyf catching up.

"How long?" Alsyf asked.

"Hm, a minute." Athena said. Soon the hosts went to their Guardians and modified their sensors to track Vex. "Done."

"Nice, now, let's see what our friend wants." Alsyf said. The group went back the way they came on food, going deeper into the campus, under the foundation, then into what seemed to be a library.

"Look at all the books!" Sara said laughing.

"Uh, Sara, radar." Theoduin said. Sara glanced to her radar, red all around. The three pulled out their primaries and spun as they looked around.

"Nothing?" Sara said.

"Radar says Vex all around, but I can't see em." Alsyf said.

"Silvia, anything on cloaking tech?" Theoduin asked.

"Not that I can find!" Silvia said. Sara then saw what looked like a tree…made of data.

"Woah…" She said and jogged to it, letting Seraph take a look.

"What…is this?" He asked. "A conflux of…non-baryonic streams? Where's it going?"

"Non Barywhat!?" Theoduin said.

"Something like dark matter." Sara replied. Suddenly clouds formed around them, a sparking orb in the middle of each cluster

"Oh no, no, no! The Vex!" Seraph said as he vanished and the conflux vanished. Suddenly, something appeared in the cloud. Red eyes before the clouds vanished. Thin, frames, a. odd made head, like it was ornamental. Their cry was, haunting yet enchanting to Sara.

"The chest!" Sara said as she shot one right in the gun, causing it to stagger, another shot caused the core to rupture and explode, killing the Vex.

"Push up the stairs!" Alsyf said blasting two with his hand cannon as the Vex started firing, red bolts splashing on their shields. Theoduin charged forward and tore through the Vex, and was hit twice by what seemed to be lines of Solar energy, his shields bursting.

"Sniper!" Alsyf said as he ran up to the top of the stairs, Sara right behind, shooting down on advancing Vex.

"I got here! Theoduin, break right! Alsyf, left!" She said.

"Yes Ma'am!" The two shouted and ran off to take care of their Vex. Sara saw one with what seemed to be a longer rifle and horns get shot, only to curl up and cover itself in light. She turned to focus on her vex, more just showed up as she got fed up. She collected Void Light into a ball and threw her arm to the side, her Nova bomb was now three smaller bombs, landing across the enemies, and destroying them all. She helped her team out best she could till she heard something behind her.

"Sara!" Alsyf shouted in her comms as she turned to see a Vex, burly frame, no open core, and well over a foot towering above her, roared in her face before it back handed her with surprising strength. She went flying into the statue. She fell and looked up to see it teleport to her in short bursts, thinning its hand into a spear of sorts. She went for her shotgun but was going to be too slow. A rocket slammed into its shields, bursting them as it was peppered with gunfire. It turned towards Alsyf and fired what seemed to be a grenade launcher. She got her shotgun and blasted it, causing it to fall back and twitch before a rocket blew it to pieces.

"Anymore!?" Theoduin shouted. Sara stood and looked around.

"We're clear!" Sara said. "Fuck, they just, appeared, one even right behind me, me and Seraph are gonna take a look." She said as she went down into the piles of vex. She found one barely active and leaned down, as Theoduin and Alsyf walked up to her.

"Well fought." A voice said. The three turn to look, and find an Exo, hooded and cloaked.

"You…" Alsyf said as Sara stood.

"Bout time you showed." She said. The Exo started to walk towards them.

"We haven't got much time sadly." She said.

"Who are you?" Sara asked. Seraph appeared.

"And why have you been watching us? The moon, and the Cosmodrome." He said.

She sighed in a, sad tone. "I don't even have time to explain why I don't have time to explain." She said.

"Busy schedule." Theoduin said. She then looked down.

"I will. I will…I know, yes, I know." She said.

"Will? Will what?" Seraph asked as the other Ghosts appeared beside him.

"Wasn't talking to you, Little Light." She said. Silvia snickered.

"I-I'm a Ghost. That's the term." He said.

"Many Guardian's have fallen here. Strong ones. But you made it here. You-Yes, they're here, with me." She said turning away. Athena flew over.

"Who are you talking too?" She asked.

"Understood." She said and pushed Athena away.

"Don't touch my Ghost." Alsyf said.

"I'm not going to harm it. You all need my help, as much as I can give." She said.

"That's why we're here huh? To get help?" Theoduin said.

"We're here, because of them." She said as she walked to the still alive Vex. "The Vex, many evil's exist. This evil…is evil to all other evils."

"Cause that makes sense." Silva said.

"You're not a Guardian." Sara said.

"Neither are you, not entirely." She said turning. Sara nearly felt her heart stop. Theoduin and Alsyf took a step forward. "I was not forged in Light. But, where our path's cross, ground, could break!" She said and stomped the core of the Vex, it making one last dying cry. "Do you know of the Black Garden?"

The Guardians looked at each other and shrugged.

"I've heard the Legends." Seraph said. "Red flowers blooming eternally, growing forward and backwards in Time."

"Fun." Sara said.

"The greatest threat to us all is there. Find the Garden, rip out its heart, only then will your Traveler begin to heal." She said.

"Begin!?" Alsyf said. Sara put a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy Alsyf. Help us find it then." She said.

"I cannot." She said shaking her head. "My path is my own."

"If we're going to find the Black Garden, we need to see the Awoken." Seraph said.

"The Awoken, teetering on Dark and Light. A side must always be chosen Little Light. Even if it's the wrong one." She said. She then turned away. "Too late, returning. How many?" She asked pulling out her weapon. "Hold position, kill the engine, don't let them find you!" She said and vanished in swirling scintillating blue light.

"That was a headache." Theoduin said.

"So, the awoken…ideas?" Alsyf asked.

"They live in the asteroid belt, the edge of the Light." Seraph said. "Can't we stay with the murderous robots?" He asked. Sara knelt to his level.

"No we can't. Little light." She said. Seraph turned to her.

"Do not, do that." He said. Sara laughed as she stood.

"So, we have to do this carefully. The Vanguard would never allow this kinda stuff." She said.

"Sara one mission is fine, but, we can't hide this." Alsyf said.

"It sounds like a month long search to get to this place." Theoduin said. Sara sighed.

"You…may be right. This, is going to suck." She said. "Let's go get chewed out." She said as she transmatted up, the others following.

* * *

DWA: Heeey! Deep story stuff! Love doing that! SO! Again, please Fave, Follow, Review, and tell me if I should do TAA, still haven't decided! I'm sure I'll get back to it when Sword and Shield come out in probably November. Until then, see you all next chapter!


	15. The Reef's Knowledge

DWA: Hey all how's it going? Hope you're enjoying the chapters! I'm having a blast writing them! Thanks to everyone who's followed! I've been getting a lot of new comers recently!

 **Chapter 15: The Reef's Knowledge**

* * *

Fireteam Mythic was in the orbit of Venus, on comms, discussing what their next move would be.

"We need to tell them." Theoduin said.

"If we do we won't get to see the Awoken." Alsyf said.

"We could tell them as we fly by Earth, just not head back." Sara said.

"They'd send people after us." Athena said.

"Either way we need to inform them." Seraph said.

"Listen, we can out run whoever chases us, we get into the Reef they'll never find us." Alsyf said.

"The info about the Black Garden may just be enough for a mission." Sara said. The group went silent.

"I'm calling the Vanguard." Theoduin said.

"Get ready for hell." Alsyf said.

"Fireteam Mythic, how went your test run?" Ikora said. Sara breathed in harshly. She could hear just a hint of knowing in her voice, and feel her seething through the channel.

"Ohhhh she knows." Sara said, sighing.

"Oh she's sharp!" Cayde said with a laugh.

"Yes, we get enough, 'test runs' to know when Guardians like to sneak off." Ikora said. "Besides, Cayde invented it."

"Regardless, what did you learn?" Zavala said.

"Wait, are we not in trouble?" Alsyf asked.

"Oh of course you're in trouble, we just haven't decided how in trouble you are." Cayde said.

"Our friend was…strange. Talking cryptically. But gave us direction. The Black Garden." Sara said.

"The Garden?" Ikora said with surprise.

"Why?" Zavala asked. You could almost hear him lean on the table.

"The Traveler hasn't been healing. Something in the Garden is stopping it, something with a heart." Sara said. The three started flying, coordinates set to the Reef, and entered warp.

"She has a hatred of the Vex." Alsyf said.

"So, how do you intend to _find_ the Garden? Its location isn't well known if at all." Cayde asked.

"Well, we're going to the Reef." Theoduin said.

"Oh dear." Ikora said.

"I suggest you turn back Guardian's. We aren't welcome there." Zavala said.

"We're trying anyways." Sara said.

"…Let me rephrase that. You will-" The link cut off.

"Oh noooo we lost the signal, we'll never know what he said." Silvia said.

"Silvia you bad girl! I love it!" Alsyf said.

"Don't talk about my Ghost like that." Theoduin said. Sara laughed.

The three came out of warp, into what looked like a Graveyard.

"What…the hell?" Sara said.

"You know I heard what the Reef looked like." Theoduin said staring into the purple hued spacescape. "Doesn't prepare you huh?" He said. As they flew through the Reef, their comm's sparked to life.

"Intruders bearing one-two-seven, you have crossed into the realm of the Awoken. State your intent of be fired on by the order of the Queen!" A voice said.

"Someone say something!" Alsyf said. Sara cleared her throat.

"We're Guardians. From Earth. We seek Counsel with the Queen of the Awoken." She said. The silence for the other end seemed to last an eternity before the voice came through.

"Conform to our trajectory, any deviation will be seen as an act of aggression." The Ghosts handled that as to, not let human error mess things up.

"I guess we're in the right place." Sara said.

"Are we though?" Alsyf asked. Their ships went to what seemed to be a space station made of other ships welded together. It looked, rather nice actually. Longer than tall besides a spire in the back. They landed and were escorted quite a distance, their weapons confiscated, much to the Guardian's annoyance. They soon came up to a man standing near an empty throne. His skin tone a light violet, his yellow eyes the most odd feature.

"And so, the three trespasser's, seeking an audience with the Queen." He said waving his arm out.

"We didn't mean to trespass." Sara said.

"Yes well, the Queen decides who may or may not enter our realm, Earthborn." He said.

"I feel like he insulted you." Theoduin said. The man smirked and walked closer.

"I don't see why she should be available for whomever washes up on the shores, but, here we are." He said

"We came to ask for help." Alsyf said. There was, a familiar snarl. Sara looked up to see two Fallen with spears crawling out from behind the throne.

"Ah shit!" Theoduin shouted grabbing a pistol from a guard before she could react. In retaliation, the Fallen readied their spears. And to the Guardians surprise, a pistol to Alsyf's back, a knife to Sara's neck.

"I wouldn't." The man said.

"Really not liking you." Theoduin said.

"They fear the Fallen." A voice said, calm, weighty, and with purpose. A woman walked around the throne, white hair, light blue skin, and blue eyes. "They do not understand, these Fallen are mine." She said. She sat on her throne and the Fallen relaxed. The man moved away as the guard took back her pistol.

"Sorry." Theoduin said.

"Your Grace, at some other time, I'd love to know how you, gained an alliance with the Fallen." Sara said.

"I'll give the short story now, I killed half of them, including their Kell. Thus, I _am_ , their Kell." She said.

"Oh, well, does not help me." She said. She raised an eyebrow at Sara, but did not speak of it further.

"We're looking for the Black Garden." Alsyf said.

"Why?" The man said.

"We wanna break its heart." Theoduin said.

"Typical Guardians. You want to turn the Garden into a battlefield. How unimaginative." He said.

"Do you know where it is?" Sara asked.

"Everyone knows where it is. The hard part is getting in." He said.

"Everyone?" Alsyf asked Theoduin, who shrugged.

"So, mind helping?" Sara asked.

"And why would we do that?" He asked getting in Sara's face. Sara narrowed her eyes.

"The Queen requests consul with her brother." The Queen said. The man turned and walked to the Queen, kneeling beside her. They began talking.

"Damn, I was hoping to beat him up." Theoduin said.

"Oh stop. After all, he is the Prince…" Sara said. The Prince looked over at the group with a devious smile.

"Yes, that's good! We'll make you a key! How's that? All we need is the head of a Vex Gate Lord!" He said standing.

"A Vex Gate Lord?" Alsyf asked.

"Why would you want a Gate Lord's head?" Sara asked.

"Oh we don't, and I sincerely doubt we'll get one. But you need it to get into the Garden." He said.

"We'll be back." Theoduin said taking a heavy step forward.

"Or you'll die on Venus. Either or." He said. The three turned and were escorted to their ships, where they began the trip back to Venus.

"Yo Sara. What's a Gate Lord?" Theoduin asked.

"You know the thing you blew up?" She said.

"Yeah?"

"Three stories tall and smarter." Sara said.

"Oh what the fuck." Alsyf said.

"Yeeep. This is gonna fucking suck. When we get down there, we need to find one." She said.

"Well we're not just gonna stumble on one, we need to figure out how exactly the Vex work. So let's find a big Vex, and take out its brain." Seraph said.

"You word things in the loveliest of ways." Silvia said. The three came out of warp and headed down to Ishtar. The three landed and looked around, some Guardians were around as Athena popped up.

"Up ahead, there's a pretty large Vex emission. Time to do some surgery." She said as she vanished and the three mounted up.

"Let's hurry before the Vanguard catches us." Theoduin said. The three sped off towards the signal, passing other Guardians along the way. They came to a large clearing, with a very large Vex in the middle of a ring. It looked like an armored eye, with two long protrusions on its side. It noticed the three and made an odd noise as clouds appeared around it and its eye seemed to charge up.

"Off the Sparrows!" Alsyf said and the three jumped off their sparrows. As it shot a large orb of Void energy, more vex appeared around it. The explosion it made was quite large.

"That looks painful." Sara said as she cocked her scout rifle and started shooting the large one.

"Pinged as Cyclops. Smaller guys, Goblins, Hobgoblins, and Minotaurs." Silvia said.

"Cool to know!" Alsyf said as he fired his Hand cannon. Each shot popped the brains of the Vex, his Hand cannon easily piercing its weak shell. Suddenly he was attacked from above, odd Vex, three "wings", an eye, and some tendrils from the back. It shot down on him.

"Oh what the fuck!" He shouted. Suddenly they were hit by a rocket, falling as pieces.

"Pinged as, Harpies." Silvia said. Theoduin chuckled as he fired another rocket at a group, shattering their bodies. The Cyclops fired another shot, causing Sara to take cover behind a pillar, the rock cracking under the hit. Alsyf pulled out his sniper and shot the Cyclops in the eye, causing it to freak out and firing smaller balls of void all over the place.

"Woah woah!" Theoduin shouted as a stray shot landed at him. "Easy!"

"Sorry! How was I to know?" He asked shooting it more.

"Oh just get rid of it!" Sara shouted as she took cover from the bombardment.

"Fine fine!" Alsyf said as he summoned his Golden Gun, and fired, hitting its eye and causing it to detonate, and then he destroyed two Minotaurs with his second and thirst shot. The rest of the Vex vanished.

"Well, a retreat?" Sara asked as she jogged over to the Cyclops corpse and found a large, device. She picked it up, about the size of half her head. "Cool. Seraph, this good?" She asked.

"Yes, perfect, here, I've pinged a research station." Seraph said.

"Let's go." Alsyf said as he mounted up and took off. Sara and Theoduin hopped on theirs and took off after him. On the way they passed what seemed like a large area to what might be a door. Sara felt, odd, as she looked at the location, but passed it without an issue.

"Hey, I've been analyzing the Mind Core, and it's biological!" He said. "It's not relative to any known life form, maybe the research at the Collective could tell us more." He said.

"Biological? Really?" Theoduin asked. The three reached a space in the wall and hopped off their sparrows.

"That's kinda odd that their brains are biological." Alsyf said.

"We'll learn more soon." Sara said as they made their way to the research station, pinged Campus 9. There was an easily defeated force of Fallen there.

"I got it." Seraph said and hopped on a research terminal.

"Jeez let someone else do it." Alsyf said.

"He's fine, he and Sara have done plenty of work on the Vex." Silvia said. The group spread out and explored.

"Uh, Vex! Incoming!" Seraph shouted over the comms as the Vex ported in.

"I'll be fine here!" Alsyf shouted as he started popping the Goblin's easy. "They go down quick!"

"Good for you!" Sara said tossing a scatter grenade at her group, killing one and damaging the others. A loud explosion was heard a bit away as Sara shot her group down.

"Theoduin you fine!?" Sara shouted as more came in.

"Yep! Rockets work wonders!" He shouted laughing as another explosion happened.

"Of course." She muttered as she pulled out her fusion rifle and mowed down the rest of her group. Soon gunfire ceased, but more clouds appeared.

"The Vex…they share a single mind across millions of units! That's why they're coming so fast!" Seraph said.

"Kill one and the rest know." Alsyf said as he ran, firing back into the group, avoiding hobgoblin shots and taking cover. "I got Hobgoblins and need covering fire!" He shouted as bolts of solar energy flew over his head.

"Love to help, really, but Harpies are swarming me!" Sara shouted. Alsyf looked back to see her on a building, Harpies firing down on her as she fired back with her scout rifle. As she jumped down, Theoduin ran into his view, three Minotaurs hot on his heels, firing their odd grenade launchers.

"I got big motherfuckers just chasing me!" He shouted as he blasted them with his shotgun. Alsyf sighed and popped over cover and took hits to kill his Hobgoblins. By the time his group was dead, Sara and Theoduin took out their groups.

"Amazing! They can warp across star systems in an instant! Almost done!"

"An army can appear in an instant…" Theoduin said. A third wave of Vex started to appear.

"Oh come on!" Sara shouted over coms. He was beset upon by Goblins, and Hobgoblins…he hated the latter.

"I'm tired of this." He said and pulled out his shotgun and ran at his enemies as they fired at him. His heavier armor allowed for more shield generators, so many of the hots seemed to bounce off him. He blew a hole through the wall of Goblins, shoulder charging through them, disintegrating them. He jumped up to a hobgoblin and blasted it in half, forming his Rocket on his shoulder and firing it at the other, killing it on impact. He put this Launcher on his back as he covered his fists in Arc energy and jumped, and falling in the middle of the group, killing his Vex group easily.

"Woo! Done here!" Theoduin shouted.

"Same!" Sara said into comms.

"I'm set here." Alsyf said. The three met outside the research terminal.

"And I know how to find our Gate Lord! Each Vex is part of a massive system part of the mantle of Venus. We get into the network, we get our Gate Lord!" Seraph said.

"What are we waiting for?" Alsyf said.

"Not sure! What are you waiting for?" A voice said. The three turned and next to them was a rather large Titan, with an odd helmet. It had a Galea.

"Who are-?" Sara started.

"Not important!" He said and a flash of Void Light from his hands as he stretched them out, a bubble appearing around them, and suddenly they were blind.

"Shit!" Theoduin said. It faded quickly. Alsyf had a sniper barrel pointing at his face, Theoduin had a large bayonet on an Auto rifle at his head. Sara, there was a fusion rifle in hers, charged up too.

"Sorry guys, Vanguard orders. Bring you in." The titan said, his accent more Australian.

"Please come peacefully! We'd rather not harm ya!" The hunter said, her voice more British.

"Trust us, you would not win." The Warlock said, obviously an Exo. Her voice was calm, but seemed impatient. A dropship came over the Vex walls around the Campus. The three looked at each other and Sara sighed.

"We give." She said as the dropship came closer and opened the back doors. The group got on the ship, and took off towards Earth.

This, would be an awkward flight.

* * *

DWA: Time to veer off the beaten path! Mythic's been caught! How in trouble are they? That's up to the Vanguard! Please follow, fav, and review! It means a lot to me! See ya next chapter!


	16. Mandatory Downtime

DWA: Hey all, how's everything for you all. As stated, time from a break from the story! Well the main written one, time for some more background stuff!

 **Chapter 16: Mandatory Downtime**

* * *

Fireteam Mythic sat across from the other fireteam, who looked far more experienced than them. It was silent, and Alsyf decided to break it.

"Why not cuff us?" He asked.

"We'd kill ya and the Vanguard said you're not assholes so we didn't bring any." The Hunter.

"Hey small girl, what the fuck is the helmet?" Theoduin said, causing Sara to snicker. The Hunter easily stood around 5'5. As for her helmet, it seemed to be an odd one, several red sensors all over it.

"The ATS/8 Arachnid! If all the sensors are on it…gives me motion sickness so I linked it to my brain to help me…see, better." She said.

"She can see danger around her." The Warlock said. "Before asking, I wear the Heart of Praxic Fire." She said tapping her robes.

"Impressive gear." Sara said. "And the Titan wears, the Helm of Saint-14." She said.

"That's right, don't ask where I found it." He said laughing. "I'm Zeke." He said. "Offensive Defender."

"I'm Erini. I'm a danger close Gunslinger!" The Hunter said.

"Don't underestimate her by the description." Zeke said.

"And I am Hakame. Sunsinger." The Warlock said.

"You're friendly for enforcers." Sara said.

"Ahhh its fine, we're just here to bring you to the Vanguard. You're in trouble but it's not like you blew up the Tower or anything." Zeke said leaning back.

"Besides. We've wanted to meet you for a spell." Hakame said. "An Archon on the first mission is rather impressive."

"Sepiks Prime." Erini said. "We were slated for that if you failed."

"We haven't even introduced our Fireteam! We're the Wreckers!" Zeke said.

"Inspired. OOF!" Alsyf said, and Theoduin promptly elbowed him in the gut.

"Who's the leader?" Sara asked.

"Me!" Erini said raising her hand.

"It's a democracy but yes, she's the main leader. She's got a good head for being the youngest among us." Hakame said. "Now I must ask, what were you doing at Campus 9?"

"They're looking for a Gate Lord." Zeke said, his cheerful tone gone.

"Gate…Lord?" Erini said. "Didn't…" She started but Hakame stopped her.

"You're strong yes, but stop this. You're not ready for a Gate Lord." She said.

"We could do it if you need." Zeke said. "For a price."

"I appreciate the concern, but we'll be fine." Sara said. The Wreckers looked at each other, and shrugged.

"I doubt the Vanguard will allow it anyways." Erini said leaning back in her seat. Sara said nothing more. The flight was silent but short, and Wreckers brought them to the Vanguard, saluted, and took their leave.

"Well I don't like how Erini was silent." Cayde said. "But let's get to business, Guardians! You're under, a sort of, arrest." He said.

"We guessed as much." Theoduin said.

"House arrest. For a week you are not allowed to leave the Tower. And beyond that, you will work directly under Vanguard supervision for a week after that." Zavala said.

"Ow…" Alsyf said.

"Yeah you hate being cooped up." Sara said. "And I hate to be the idiot here, but…that's it?" She said.

"Yeah I was expecting firing squads for amusement." Theoduin said.

"We heard everything on that ship. That Gate Lord you're after, has history." Ikora said. "We won't say who, but three Guardians have been lost to it. Not all at the same time." She said.

"You know how to lure it out you do it, _after_ your sentence is up." Zavala said. "If you think you can handle it."

The three looked at each other. "Yeah, we're sure." Sara said.

"Good. Now, I suggest you get comfortable. Your house arrest begins now." He said. He then waved them out. As they left, Sara wondered out loud. "Who did we lose to that Gate Lord?" She asked.

"A Hunter, a Warlock, and a Titan." Shaxx said. "Cayde knows about one. The other two…I believe she's still recovering psychologically. Yet, from what I hear, she signed up with two of the most reckless Guardians I've ever seen." He said. "I gave her a crucible pass to help work out things in battle. But she refuses to step foot."

"Who is it?" Alsyf asked.

"I'm not saying. She'd come after me!" Shaxx said laughing. The group just left at that. Sara had an idea, but would talk about it later.

"Well, I'm gonna catch up on movies, See you guys later." Theoduin said.

"I've got studies. Alsyf?" Sara asked.

"I guess I'll clean my guns." He said shrugging and walking off. The other two left as well, Sara would at least have time to catch up on her studies.

And catch up she did. A few days passed before she really stopped. She was rather fluent in Eliksni now, and her Hive translations were going well. But during that whole time, there was something bugging her.

"Still can't stop thinking of what Shaxx said?" Seraph said.

"Still bothering me." She said.

"You're theory is a stretch. It could be any Guardian. Doesn't have to be Ash." He said.

"Yeah…I know. Maybe I'll ask. Maybe." She said. "Until then, I wonder what everyone's up to?" She thought aloud.

"Well, Wreckers are out since you've been curious. Blitzkriegs on Venus, though they've been there a few days now." He said.

"Could invite the group out to drinks." She said hopping up and feeling her back crack as she stretched.

"That cannot be healthy." Seraph said checking her back for any, issues.

"Meh, call em, see how they feel." She said as she went for a shower. She spent, a bit longer in there. She never realized how much she hated being cooped up against her own will. Seraph flew over the curtain.

"Alsyf is happy for it, Theoudiun is absorbed in a movie and gave a 'wait an hour.'" He said.

"Peeking on a woman in the shower? Have you no shame?" She said jokingly as she washed her hair.

"As your Ghost, I threw away my shame a long time ago." He said. Sara was quiet for a bit.

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean mister?" She said shooting an accusatory look.

"What do you think?" He asked as he flew out.

"Jerk!" She shouted and rinsed. She soon got out of her shower and dressed up. She went to the bar and just, rested for a time, before her team showed up.

"I am going nuts." Alsyf said. Theoduin laughed.

"It's like a vacation for me." He said. The three set up in a corner booth, a nice couch like bench along the wall. They all sat, Alsyf in a chair, Theoduin and Sara next to each other. They all chat for some time, drinking away.

"Hey, you know, we don't know exactly how we all got to the tower." Sara said.

"That is true." Alsyf said. "Why don't we go around and tell our stories? Sara, you first since you brought it up." He said.

"Sure! So, there I was, skeleton on the ground enjoying my dirt nap. And then comes along a floating eyeball to wake me up!" Shye said.

"I resent that!" Seraph said appearing, Silvia and Athena showing up too.

"And wouldn't you know it, so many years you forget to breath! So I start coughing up dust. I have no clue what's going on besides it's not safe!" She said.

"Not safe?" Theoduin asked.

"Yep! Turns out, Fallen all over the place. But you know how the Cosmodrome is. But, not a single Guardian out on Patrol or anything to help. I was on my own. Found an old rifle and just, blew em away. Found my sawed off too! Got a ship working and ran from an Archon! And well…that's the long version honestly." She said.

"That's…quick." Alsyf said.

"What did ya want? An epic? I was alive like, a day before I met you two." She said. A hand clapped down on her shoulder and she looked up to see Blitz.

"What's up guys?" He said and pulled a chair up to Theoduin. Ash and Fluff taking seats by Sara and Alsyf.

"You missed Sara's rebirth story." Alsyf said.

"Was it long?" Fluff asked.

"No." Thepoduin said.

"Then we missed nothing." Ash said laughing. "If you'd all like to know I woke up on Venus in the middle of a rainforest. During one of Venus's famous week long storms." She shrugged. "Fun times."

"For me, weeell let's say ol' America is nice, but it depends on where. I woke up next to Fallen scavengin' parties. Did you know Fallen fish? Hiding for a few days I got tired of the smell." Fluff said.

"Why didn't you turn off your olfactory sensors?" Theoduin asked.

"A certain Ghost neglected I could." He said as their ghosts appeared.

"I thought you'd figure it out." Mable said.

"Blitz?" Sara asked.

"I woke up on Mars." He said. "I trudged through sand for days before finding anything resembling a ship. Died of dehydration three times getting it working. First time it happened I was scared as hell, after that, I just overworked myself."

"Wow, dedication." Sara said.

"Yo, what're ya guys in for? Word 'round is yous guys are on house arrest." Fluff said.

"Word around…" Sara muttered.

"We disobeyed orders kinda harshly." Theoduin said.

"Went to the reef, looking for the Black Garden." Alsyf said.

"We have everything we need to find a Gate Lord!" Sara said.

"A…Gate Lord?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, you guys have any advice?" Sara asked. Blitz and Fluff shrugged.

"Don't." Ash said. "Gate Lords are far more cunning than you think." She said. "Very good chance you'll…die." She said looking away.

"Ah, well we kinda can't take that advice, we need its head. We can't ask nicely." She said. She took note on how Ash seemed to act.

"So, stop trying to find the Garden, why try?" She asked.

"Well, according to a weird Exo who, was so damn cryptic, something there is stopping the Traveler from healing." Theoduin said.

"So we need to tear it out." Alsyf said.

"Wow, you guys are doom driven huh?" Blitz said. "Our big Target is a massive Cyclops that has been acting as anti-air on the massive structure near Ishtar." He said.

"Sounds like a blast! Hey, Alsyf, why not tell your story?" Theoduin asked.

"You guys want a long or short version?" He asked..

"Long dude!" Blitz said.

"Okay, so like all of us, there I was, taking a niiice dirt nap." He said

-(o)-  
 **Approximately 10 months ago**

A small machine, floated through the ruined city of Athens. Floating over to the nearly destroyed remains of the Parthenon, the machine, sensed it.

"You're here." It said, in a monotone feminine voice. "Such a long time, I'd nearly given up." She said, floating to a set of bones. A skull, looking to the sky. "Eyes already up? You're a sharp one." She said as her body split open, a ball surrounding her eye, as she seemed to gather material, and slam into the bones. Bones reformed, into a skeleton, then all the meat, muscle, organs, then skin. Around his pale body, formed white armor, half plate. Mostly leathers. Finally, a cloak, small, hardly anything, with a hood. The robot formed above him, as he took his first deep breath. His eyes shot open, one blue, one purple.

The man sat up, his body cracking and groaning from such a long sleep, rubbing the stubble on his face.

"Welcome back, Guardian." She said.

"Welcome back? Where've I been?" He said as he shook off the rubble and stood, looking out into the ruined city.

"Dead, Guardian. I've been looking for you for a long time. I'd say take in the sites…but." She said, as an odd ship, bulbous front and a stiff rectangular back, flew overhead.

"This city isn't safe, but here is. For now. Order of business, get to a space port, on the other side of the city. There must be one working personal ship." She said.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" He asked.

"Ghost. Well, that's what I am, I don't have a name." She said.

"Why not?" He asked.

"Didn't give myself one. What's your name?" She asked.

"It's…uhm. It's…" He muttered, lost in thought. "Al…syf. Alsyf." He said.

"You just threw letters together." She said. He didn't answer. "Do I get a name?"

"Do…you know what this spot is?" He asked.

"A temple to Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom." She said. "Well, was."

"Athena, that works." He said.

"You're naming me after a Goddess?" She asked.

"You did resurrect me." He said as he started his way down to the city.

"I suppose I did." Athena said as she followed him. "I'm flattered."

"Yeah, so, what was that ship?" He asked.

"Fallen, scavengers and pirates, very likely to shoot you." She said.

"So, where's my weapon?" He asked.

"You're lucky I was able to protect everything but your head with what was available. SO, you'll have to find one." She said.

"Well, let's get going." He said and they went into the city. Hours passed, avoiding patrols of the strange creatures.

"I'm never getting through this city without a weapon." He muttered as he jumped across a rooftop, making a solid surface of Light under him, and jumping off it to get the extra distance. He looked down to see a lone dreg, moving rubble.

"Here's your chance." Athena said in his head. Alsyf looked at his hands. He hadn't taken a life yet, but according to Athena, it's something that he'd do a lot. He sighed and steeled his nerves and jumped down and landed on the dreg, causing it to cry out as he brought it into a choke hold. The Dreg flailed to get him off as Alsfy held on, until it turned and slammed him into a wall, the impact making him let go. The dreg roared and raised its dagger and tried to stab him. Alsyf rolled and grabbed a rather large rock and swung it, slamming the dreg in the head, knocking it to the ground. He got on top of it and slammed the rock on its head a couple more times. It stayed still.

"Nice work." Athena said. Alsyf was panting as he stared at the Fallen, he'd killed it.

He wasn't as shocked as he thought he'd be. He shook off what little disbelief there was and looked at its weapons. The Pistol it carried wouldn't really, work. One it was cracked, two it was meant for Fallen hands.

The dagger though? He picked it up and felt its weight. Balanced, light, working battery, simple.

More importantly, his now. He picked up its sheath and put it on his own gear, it fit snug. He sheathed the blade and ran from the scene. The blade made things much easier. Loner Fallen were easily dispatched, and old systems were quickly activated by the Arc Charge in the weapon. He'd made his way through the city and made it to the spaceport. This entire process took nearly a week, not to mention a death or two.

Alsyf sat by a fire he'd started in a building, looking at his hands.

"Still unsure?" Athena asked floating over.

"I shouldn't, be walking Athena. That thing ran me through with his swords. It's weird how, ya know two hours later I'm back up like nothing happened." He said as he turned to a window. He could see the spaceport. Much more teched out compared to the rest of Athens. Old architecture was more the aesthetic of the city.

"All Guardians can be resurrected. Warlocks can do it immediately by themselves." She said.

"So, they're that powerful?" He asked.

"Oh no, it uses up a great deal of energy. You can use it in another way. You're a Hunter, so, you're probably attuned to Solar energy. We'll go over that later." She said.

"So, how am I getting a ship out of that?" He asked looking out, Fallen ships were all over the port.

"There's a more private section. We just have to hope they didn't open one of the Hangers." She said.

"Good, let's go." He said.

"You don't want to rest?" Athena asked as Alsyf kicked dirt on the fire to put it out.

"Nope, get there while it's dark." He said as he opened up the window and jumped out. Athena sighed and vanished into thin air. Alsyf knew she was in his head, or, something. He ran across the rooftops, until he got near the spaceport, he had to run across a field, and right now, the dark of the night was his only cover. He used the dagger to cut through the fence and went to the hangers. Luckily, the fallen weren't around. The bad news was that there was only a couple unopened hangers

"Let's…check the unopened ones first, see what they left." He said. The opened ones, had ships, but were stripped of tech. If he needed extra parts, he had options at least. The first unopened hanger, was oddly unlocked. He opened it with ease, but it seemed to just be the stockpile of ship parts.

"Useful." Alsyf said.

"Maybe." Athena said. Alsyf went down the way to the second unopened one, locked, and tampered with.

"Seems they tried to get in." He said. Athena appeared and scanned the lock.

"This Hanger is reinforced, not that the Fallen would try and blast in. But I'll have the lock down in just a second." She said.

"Open the side door first, I'd rather walk in the side than open the hanger door." Alsyf said walking down to the side entrance. Above the handle was a red light, which turned green quickly. Alsyf opened the door and went inside and turned on the lights. As they came on they revealed a ship. Twin engine, sleek, colored too, well bright. A bright yellow and orange color.

"Personal, warp enabled, weapons, everything we need. This was a military officer's personal ship." Athena said as she floated up.

"Condition?" He asked.

"Dusty. Besides that, mint." She said as she flew up and started working on its systems. The ship soon came to life and started hovering off the ground. Alsyf was suddenly, weightless, and then in the ship. He pat himself making sure he was okay.

"Transmat system. Think of it as a teleport of some kind." Athena said

"Oookay." He said and started pressing buttons, Athena was pushing knowledge into his head. He was working before he knew what he was doing. He took hold of the manual controls and nodded. "Open up." The hanger doors opened and he slowly moved it out.

"The second we're in the sky, punch it, northwest." Athena said. Alsyf nodded and flew the ship up. The sensors rang out, indicating ships on them already. He aligned with northwest and punched it. The ship accelerated quickly, easily outrunning the skiffs that were on his tail. Athens was soon well behind them.

"So, we have a flight ahead of us, let's catch you up on history." Athena said.

"Why do I get the feeling I'll fall asleep?" He asked.

"Because you're sleep deprived, now-"

-(o)-

 **Present Day**

Alsyf was looking at his old shock dagger. "And that's that. I left out bits that were unimportant, mainly walking in empty streets." He said.

"I never noticed you used a shock Dagger from the Fallen." Sara said.

"Yeah its battery died a while back. Haven't been able to charge it so I just use it as my knife." He said. "So Theoduin, you're on." He said.

Theoduin and Silvia looked at each other, and Theoduin shrugged.

"Sure, why not, so, I'll leave out my uneventful walk through the Midwest, and start when I hit the east coast." Theoduin said.

"Hey hey, don't leave out the resurrection!" Blitz said.

"Okay okay! So, like all of us, I was having the most pleasant nap, and most wonderful dream."

* * *

DWA: Aaaand scene. Sorry, I'd rather wait till next chapter to include Theoduin's story. This one was pretty long. So, what do you think Theoduin's journey will be like? Don't forget to Fav, Follow, and Review!


	17. Doing the Time

DWA: Hey! How is everyone? This might be late but good luck to those doing finals in college, I know those can be rough. Hopefully this takes the stress off!

 **Chapter 17: Doing the Time**

* * *

 **Approximately 7 months ago**

Like hell I'm gonna find them here? A Ghost said as she wandered through an old factory. It was pretty much totaled, but some areas remained. She started scanning the rubble.

"Oof, rough buddy." She muttered as she passed a skeletal hand poking out the rubble. "Come on already." She said. "Maybe I should just join that network of Ghosts…why the Traveler didn't just give us a sense of where our Guardians were I'll never know." She muttered as she scanned a scrap pile. She gave an exasperated sigh and started to fly away before she stopped.

"Wait…what?!" She said and flew back and scanned it again. "In, scrap? You're there huh? Wow, you've seen things haven't you?" She said as she opened up. "Don't worry Guardian, I'll keep you safe." She said and closed up before bursting in light and vanished.

It didn't take long before a bulky armored hand to burst out of the scrap pile and a large Exo came from it. His eyes activated, a deep red. He made a sound of confusion, his mouth glowing red too. He had a black lower half of his face, the upper half white. He had two red horns protruding above his eyes. He looked at his hands.

"Where, am I?" He said.

"America!" The Ghost said, seemingly coming from his own head. He burst out of the pile.

"Who said that!?" He said and pulled his pistol, which he only just realized he had. He aimed around, looking for the voice. Suddenly a blue eye was looking at him, encased in a grey diamond shell.

"I did." She said.

"Who…what are you?" He asked.

"I'm a Ghost! I've been looking for you forever!" She said and seemed to try to hug him by nuzzling his face.

"I wait what's happening." He said.

"Sorry. It's been a few centuries. So, you're an Exo, what's your name?" She asked.

He knew nothing, but he somehow knew this. "Theoduin-1." He said.

"Nice to meet you." She said.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Ghost!" She said.

"I thought that's what you were." He said.

"Don't have a name, if you wanna give me one, go ahead!" She said. It was odd, his lack of hesitation.

"Silvia." He said and started searching rubble. This dinky pistol made him feel unsafe. He needed a better gun.

"That's, really pretty thank you." She said.

"No problem, tell me if you find a gun." He said.

"Sure thing Theoduin." She said, a happy tone to her voice.

Theoduin skipped past the desert, empty long stretches of road with hardly any civilization in sight. It was fun when he made it to New York City however. The reason he wandered so far was to find an untouched ship, a radioactive zone was perfect for that.

"The big ole NYC." Silvia said. Theoduin held up a Geiger counter he got a whiles back, it had a very slow, tick. Click…..click.

"Radiation." He muttered.

"We'll have to pass around Manhattan. The old nuclear generator went critical during the collapse. Luckily it didn't explode but, it still powers the city and leaks. Manhattan is a wasteland." She said. "You may be an Exo, but you could easily short out to radiation. You are very complex." She said.

"You can patch me." He said as he cocked his rifle.

"I'd rather temper that attitude to caution." She said.

"Silvia, Silvia, you are my voice of caution." He said.

"As your voice of caution, go around Manhattan." She said.

"The thing is I can ignore you." He said and ran towards the city.

"Why him…" She muttered and followed.

"So, anything about NYC?" He asked.

"Uhm, only one thing, rumors of a gang called the Rads." She said.

"Really?" He asked laughing.

"The rumors say they're ruthless scavengers, cannibals when necessary, wear hazmat suits unless they're…ahem, 'Bathed in glorious heat.'" She said.

"So worshippers?" He asked,

"I don't know, the rumors are all the kind of a man who knew a man deal. No one but Guardians come here, and even then dying over and over to radiation is not fun. Exo's can stay much longer but still suffer. So, no one really comes here." She said.

"Fun." He said as he walked down the city streets to make it to JFK port. He didn't have to spend time in Manhattan long but he knew rad levels would be high. The, radiations, not the rumored gang.

"It's eerily quiet." He said.

"It's been like this the whole time?" Silva said.

"Yeah but, Maybe I was from here or was here at some point…but there should be people. Noise, it should be loud." He said. He started jogging. "Yeah fuck this."

"Sorry it doesn't live up to your standards." She said looking around at the buildings. He jogged across a bridge, his Geiger counter clicking rapidly. He shook his head as he made it across and slowed down.

"Got anything for a headache?" He asked. Silvia opened up to heal him, clearing the radiation from him.

"I can't always do that." She said.

"Yeah yeah its fine, we don't have to be in Manhattan long." He said and started jogging. He came to a sudden stop and pulled out his rifle.

"Theoduin?" She asked.

"Backpack." He said. Silvia didn't argue and vanished. From buildings and under cars came out people in yellow hazmat suits, some had full tinted helmets, others gasmask.

"Lookie lookie, a stupid wanderer without a suit~" One sneered, their voice muffled.

"It's armor, and is airtight and has suitable radiation protection." He said and raised his rifle. Their guns looked dirty, and worn.

"Well I don't like him." One said and shot at him. Theoduin ducked behind a car, popped out and fired a few shots of his old M60, a couple shots hitting the mark and sending the one he hit falling back dead.

The rest roared almost animal like and unloaded on the car. He fell down and hid, some shots making it through the vehicle. He pulled out a grenade and ran light through it like Silvia had shown him and tossed it over the car, and heard the explosion. He popped up and aimed left, and held the trigger moving the weapon right, mowing down the Rads.

"ORNERY MEAT!" One screamed as they died.

"Yeah that was a radio transmission." Silvia said

"Aaaahhh dammit." He said and put the weapon on his back and took off into a full spring by the now dead bodies. He could hear more screams in the distance. They were coming.

"From what I can tell they don't leave Manhattan!" Silvia said. He ran past another street and looked down to see many yellow suits running down the street.

"Faster dammit!" He shouted and ran as fast as his legs would allow. Soon bullets were flying by him. The bridge was in sight, but the bullets pinging off his shield was not helping his situation.

"I hope there's a Guardian at JFK! Uhm! Hello!? Assistance required at Manhattan southernmost bridge, west side!" Silvia called out.

"What? Who's out there, no missions are sanctioned yet!" A voice said.

"Name's Theoduin-1! Ow dicks!" He said and pulled out his pistol and fired backwards as he ran.

"Been…newly resurrected around six months ago and looking for a personal ship to get to the Tower! Under heavy Rad fire!" He shouted.

"Oh, a newbie! Oh fuck a newbie! Guys gear up Southwest Manhattan! Back up's coming Guardian! Jeremy, get the fixer upper fixed!" the voice shouted before cutting out. He looked back to see several Rads, and more coming. He looked forward to see ships on the way, and grinned best he could.

-(o)-

 **Present day**

"They bombed them, picked me up, gave me a ship, and here I am." He said.

"Nice!" Sara said.

"Shame the fight with the Rads wasn't longer." Blitz said.

"Radiation was getting to me. I just wanted out." Theoduin said.

"Seems like something a group of Guardians should go take out." Sara said.

"A Fireteam tried a few weeks ago. They have way more numbers than we thought." Ash said.

"So I saw the tip of the iceberg huh? Jeez." Theoduin said. Sara sighed.

"I cannot wait for our probation to be over. Back to what we were doing. Don't know why we're grounded this hard." She said.

"Probably because you're not ready, or they don't see it as important." Blitz said.

"Either way, I apparently have a training session tomorrow." Alsyf said.

"I think we all do." Theoduin said.

"We should probably rest up for that." Sara said downing the rest of her drink. "I'll catch you all later." She said. The group said goodbye as she left.

The three indeed had training, mainly in awakening their new powers. The trainers said it was like, learning a talent you always had. It's not a large event for Guardians to learn a new element. It takes a bit of effort to bring it out, then switching is as easy as flipping a switch, then second nature.

Sara found Sunsinger useful, but Voidwalker was, at the moment, more her style.

Alsyf liked the idea of Bladedancer, but as with Sara, Gunslinger felt more powerful. And much more his style.

Theoduin on the other hand? He found Defender rather boring and dull. He wouldn't be using it anytime soon.

After that they were sent on a week-long expedition to Venus. During the time they were there they did heavy damage to the House of Winter's operations. Glimmer mining, supply runs anything, they stopped or broke.

At the end of the week they sat in their safehouse and raised a glass together.

"To a week long slog in the damn jungle." Alsyf said and knocked back his shot.

"And to finally being fuckin done!" Sara nsaid and knocked back hers.

"I'm just happy its over." Theoduin said as he knocked back his own alcohol.

"Guardians." Zavala said over comms.

"Sir?" Alsyf asked.

"Consider your probation over. You are now free to pursue your own…interests. Just be careful." He said. The comms cut out.

"So, after some rest, whose ready for a Gate Lord!?" Sara said.

"Damn right." Theoduin said.

"Let's kick this things ass." Alsyf said. The three clinked their glasses before readying more drinks for the night.

* * *

DWA: A bit shorter of a chapter. I had plans but realizing the timeframe of things I needed to change them. Next one, the group takes on a Gate Lord!


	18. The Eye of a Gate Lord

DWA: Hey all, how goes it, hope ya didn't mind the shorter chapter, it felt the best way to end it. Also sorry for the length to get this out. Work has been kicking my ass as of late, among other things.

 **Chapter 18: Eye of the Gate Lord**

* * *

Fireteam Mythic sped towards Campus 9 on their sparrows, according to Athena, that's where they can get to the Endless Steppes.

"So everyone, any idea how to take down something three stories tall?" Theoduin asked.

"Ask the Ogre on the moon, he'll remind ya." Alsyf said.

"I mean shooting till it drops generally works." Sara said as they came to the entrance to the Campus and walked through. Sara grabbed her Scout Rifle and cocked it. The others grabbed their weapons and got ready. The approached what looked like a disc stood upright.

"A Vex Gate." Sara said. Suddenly light and energy shimmered on it.

"Oh right. I've messed with the Transfer network here, best way to draw out a Gate Lord seems to be mess with it. So, have fun. Shoot the gates." Seraph said.

"You sonofa…tell us ahead of time!" Sara said as Vex walked out of the gate. The three lit the gate up. They killed the Vex coming out as the gate fizzled out. Sara looked over to see several gates spitting out vex.

"Great…." Alsyf said. The three started running throughout the large area, shooting gates as they went.

"Primaries only save the good stuff for the big guy!" Theoduin shouted.

"We know the drill!" Alsyf shouted as he shot nine rounds from his hand cannon, killing a goblin with each round. Sara was focusing on Hobgoblins until she saw a large Vex teleport in with a familiar profile.

"Cyclops!" She shouted.

"Aw come on!" Theoduin shouted as they focused fire and took cover from its first shot. Sara kept peeking out to shoot gates she could hit.

"How's ammo?" Sara asked as she loaded a magazine into her Scout Rifle.

"Low enough to be worried!" Alsyf said as he tossed a Swarm Grenade at the Cyclops, Theoduin continuously firing at the large Vex as it fired another shot.

"I hate these things." Theoduin said as he tossed a Pulse Grenade at it and took cover. Soon a loud screeching was heard, followed by an explosion.

"We've seen like, what? Four?" Sara asked.

"Three too many." Alsyf said. The group rushed through the area, passing into a crack in the walls to reach the steppes, where it was, empty. Besides a massive gate, and some rather large gates spread around the area.

"This screams big bad." Theoduin said as he walked down the slope nearby.

"You're tellin me." Sara said. They came up to the largest gate, and there was a brass colored pad in front of it, with red data streams around it.

"Step on it. Say hi." Seraph said. Sara walked onto it and waved.

"Hiiii!" She said and laughed.

"I hate you." Alsyf said. The red data sank away and white data started rising.

"Awww you love me." Sara said laughing. Suddenly there was a pulse from the plate she was standing on. The three looked toward the gate as it powered up, and the portal opened white as the fluid of the Vex Cores.

Parts of the massive vex came through the gate, suspended in the air before all coming together and landing hard on the ground.

"That was awesome!" Sara shouted as she shot at it running back towards the stairs.

"Think I can do that?" Theoduin asked.

"Not without great pain." Silvia said.

"Focus please!" Alsyf said firing a rocket at the Vex. It took the hit and seemed to shrug it off before firing a three round volley from its massive torch hammer.

Theoduin ran from the explosions as he turned and started firing his auto rifle, before recalling their ammo situation and taking cover.

"Damn I'm low…" He muttered. He pulled out his Rocket and fired it, the Gate lord shrugging it off. However it walked back into the gate.

"Wait what?" Sara said.

"Uhm…weren't there other gates here?" Alsyf said. Suddenly the sound of a Torch hammer went off three times behind them. Alsyf broke into a sprint straight ahead as three explosions hit behind him.

"Nice observation." Sara said. The Gate Lord seemed to be, annoyed as it walked back into the gate.

"Hey I've got an idea." Theoduin said.

"Shoot." Sara said looking at other gates.

"You know me so well!" He said and fired a rocket at an active gate. The rocket hit the plate behind it and broke it, causing it to fizzle out.

"Oh…" Sara said. "Well we need rockets for the Gate Lord so, primaries to break them."

"Love to Sara but my ammo is low!" Alsyf said as the Gate Lord popped out of another gate high on a hill and fired its Torch Hammer in three round bursts. The three took off in different directions and took cover. The gate lord roared and the cover Theoduin was behind vanished.

"Oh fuck you." He said and started firing at the Gate Lord as it shot forward and teleported down to Theoduin's level. It raised its clawed hand to strike Theoduin as a rocket hit it, causing it to stumble slightly as Machine Gun fire peppered its body.

"Don't just stand there Theo!" Alsyf said reloading his rocket. Theoduin took off in a sprint, firing his rifle at the behemoth of a Vex. The Gate Lord roared in response and turned it turned to Alsyf and fired off three round bursts from its Torch Hammer, Alsyf running off in response. The Machine Gun fire focused on the Large Vex's exposed core, causing it to cry out it pain and look to Sara. Who was crouched behind a piece of rock, bipod out.

"Yeah that's it big guy, follow me." She said to herself as she stood and went into a full sprint.

"Finally got a ping on its name! Zydron!" Seraph said.

"And why do we care!?" Sara asked as explosions went off behind her from Zydron. In the background, other explosions could be heard. Sara took cover to see Theoduin breaking other gates with his Shotgun and Rocket Launcher.

"Go for it big guy." She said as she tossed a Scatter grenade at the approaching Vex. It stumbled from the multiple explosions, and noticed something was up as it rushed to a portal.

"Alsyf! Stop it!" She shouted firing from her Machine Gun. Alsyf fired a rocket into the gate it was heading to, breaking it and closing it. The red eye of the Gate Lord glowed brighter as it looked to Alsyf and teleported over to him and grabbed him.

"Oh hello there asshat!" He said and fired a rocket into its face, causing Zydron to toss him like a toy across the field.

"Look at that distance…" Theoduin said as Alsyf landed hard nearby. "Sara I'll get him up, keep it distracted!" He said sprinting for Alsyf. Zydron ran to a vex gate and went in. Sara looked around.

"It went into the Network I don't know where!" She shouted. Theoduin looked around and saw an active gate by Alsyf's corpse. Theoduin fired his last rocket at it and Zydron ran out to take the hit, roaring.

"Sara, change of plans!" He shouted. Sara looked over and sighed as she jumped down from the rock she was on and started to sprint towards Alsyf as Theoduin's body glowed with Arc Light. Sara slid next to Athena and started supplying her light.

"It's going to take a bit, even with so many gates closed, the Darkness in the area, its rather…suppressing." She said.

Theoduin roared as he jumped up, body alight with power. Zydron swung its arm at him, and Theoduin met it head on with his own fist, the Arc energy travelling through Zydron and sending it stumbling back into the gate. He landed and looked back to see Alsyf back on his feet. The Gate's shut, besides the main gate, and Zydron walked out, eye bright red. It's Torch Hammer, opened, and a blade of void energy sprang forth.

"…I want a sword." Alsyf said.

"But with a gun you don't need to get close." Sara said as she shot Zydron with Heavy weapons fire.

"I'll argue later." Alsyf said as Solar Light engulfed him and he held his Hand Cannon up as Zydron didn't just run, but broke into a full sprint. He took aim with his hand cannon, and shot a leg, causing it to stumble, the last two shots hitting the core, Zydron screaming out before scrambling forward and making a large sweep. Alsyf jumped but was clipped by the blade sending him spinning in the air till he hit the ground on his side.

"Yeah that thing hurts." He said as he pulled out his sniper.

"Machine Guns out!" Sara shouted as she ran at Zydron, Void Light collecting in her hands. She jumped up and tossed a single sphere of void energy, slamming into Zydron and continually damaging it with a vortex. It swung its sword through the vortex, causing it to vanish.

"Hey big guy!" Theoduin shouted as he landed on its shoulders, he'd climbed the gate while no on was looking. He started blasting its 'neck' with his shotgun before he was grabbed and lightly tossed, and then slashed twice with the sword. He went tumbling down and hit the stone hard.

"I…cannot believe I got that far." He said. The three focused fire on the core.

"It's gotta almost be dead!" Sara shouted.

"Sara, Old World Blues!" Alsyf shouted. Sara put away her scout rifle and grabbed her sawed off from her leg holster.

"Cut a path." She said before taking off in a sprint. Theoduin ran with her as Alsyf fired as he ran to his left, trying to distract Zydron. Zydron swung at Alsyf from a far, sending an arc of energy that slammed the rock in front of him, exploding and sending him back. Theoduin took out his auto rifle and looked at his ammo counter.

"Last mag!" he shouted and lit Zydron up. Sara was sprinting as fast as she could before she felt she was at the right distance. She jumped up and used her light to help her glide. Zydron noticed and reached for her.

"Now, or Never!" She shouted. She took aim, stretching her arm to get as close as possible, and pulled the trigger hard. The blast sent her flying back, and shattered the Vex Core. The Vex gave one last roar as it fell hard to the ground. Sara hit the ground hard and rolled for a biut before coming to a stop.

"Ow…" She said. "Did I kill it?" She asked standing up.

"That you did." Alsyf said holding a hand out to her. She grabbed it and Alsyf pulled her up. The sound of shotgun blasts caudsed them to look over to the vex corpse. Theoduin fired a couple more shells till the head of the Gate Lord fell off the body.

"So, to the Reef?" He asked.

Sara sighed and laughed.

"To the reef." Alsyf said. Seraph went over and collected the head by transmatting it to Saras ship, and the three went up to their own ships.

"Co-ords locked, here we go." She said and the three sped off to the reef. When they arrived they were greeted by the Queens Guard.

"Welcome Back Guardians. Queen says you have right to come in, form up on us." A familiar voice said.

"Understood, forming up." Theoduin said. The three followed the two ships through the carcasses of old colony ships, coming to the main station. They were led to the queen's throne room. The three walked up, ghosts flying beside them.

"They live, and still have their balls." The queen said, looking comfortable on her throne.

"We're Ghosts, actually." Seraph said. The Prince turned and gave a smirk.

"Oh Guardian, this is a judgement free zone. Running away is an excellent strategy for survival, besides failure and cowardice." He said with a chuckle.

"Oh piss off, we didn't run." Theoduin said waving Uldren off. The Price and Queen shared a look.

"Was no Gate Lord Slain, Brother?" She asked.

"We kicked its ass." Alsyf said. Sara looked to Seraph.

"Seraph, be so kind to present the honorable queen her gift." She said with a slight bow. Seraph's eye lit up and the head of the gate lord appeared and fell to the ground hard. Mara's eyes widen as the Fallen Guards raise their pikes to the head. Uldren looks on in shock.

"The Garden, where?" Sara asked taking a step forward.

"Ha, they don't even know where it is." Uldren scoffed.

"Let us tell them then. Search for that which grants them entry." Mara said. Uldren turned to his sister in frustration.

"Why!? If you wish them death simply kill them here!" He said.

"This dude…" Theoduin muttered.

"Often when we guess others motives, we only reveal our own." Mara said.

"…And my motive is simply Loyalty. To a people, a Queen, and a sister." He said bowing.

"Then please, take that which is required." She said. Uldren grunts in frustration and stands, walking to the Gate Lord head. He pulls out a knife and cuts into it. He soon pulls out the eye, the glow inside fading away.

"Dead I'm afraid. A wasted journey." He said.

"Perhaps, but I see resourcefulness in these ones. We gift it to them, in sympathy for their Traveler." Mara said. Uldren scowled and looked them all in the eye.

"Mars, eight-four north, thirty-two east, Meridian Bay." He said and tossed it at Sara, who held a hand up as it slowed and gently floated into her hand. And she grasped it tight. Mara Sov stood from her throne.

"I have shown you benevolence, Guardian. Should the Awoken ever need an ally, I will cann on you, and I expect you to answer." She said.

"She's saying you owe us, Guardian." Uldren said.

"I got that." Sara said. "Your grace." Sara bowed, and the three were escorted out.

"Good luuuck!" Uldren shouted. He then turned away with a grin. "Getting through the exclusion Zone."

* * *

DWA: Alright, bout time eh? So, got a couple new followers, thanks for joining me on the journey of when the hell will I upload? Sorry bout that, next time shouldn't take so long I promise.


	19. The Exclusion Zone

DWA: Hey all, new DLC for D2's been announced, and I still have a lot to catch up on for that game, should get to it sometime. Either way hope ya enjoy the chapter!

 **Chapter 19: The Exclusion Zone**

* * *

"Had to be Mars." Alsyf said. On both Alsyf's and Theoduin's recommendation, Mythic was heading home to get clearance to go to Mars. With the Vanguard seemingly on their side, they all agreed to try and break anymore rules. The ships came out of warp as they headed down to the tower.

"So what are the Cabal?" Sara asked.

"You…don't know? Your nose in books and you don't know?" Theoduin asked.

"Oh so sue me, I find Vex, Fallen, and Hive interesting, and besides the interests only showed up after we fought 'em." She said

"Fair enough." Theoduin said.

"No, not 'fair enough' they have control over a whole planet basically how the hell do you not know?" Alsyf asked.

"I mean Yeah I guess I heard about em…A titan called them giant space turtles." She said.

"Oh for the Traveler!" Alsyf shouted.

"Hey do I harass you for not knowing a tryptarchy for unlocking hive runic systems!? No!" Sara shouted.

"What the hell did you just vomit out of your mouth?" Theoduin asked.

"If I knew I'd tell you." Alsyf said.

"Laymans terms is hacking deep into hive databases." Athena said.

"Oh." Theoduin said. "Shoulda said so." He muttered. The three landed at the tower and went to the Vanguard, turning their guns over to Banshee first.

"Damn Guardians, I thought I told you to manage these guns?" He said.

"It was a very hectic last day." Theoduin said.

"I can tell, these'll be ready later. Glad to have you all back." He said. The three nodded and went down to the Vanguard's Hall.

"Good Job Blitzkrieg, get back for some rest." Zavala said.

"Yes sir! Damn that was fun!" Blitz's voice came over the radio. The connection cut as Fireteam Mythic stood at attention.

"Mythic, how did everything go?" Ikora asked.

"Gate lord dead." Sara said.

"We also got the coordinates for the Black Garden entrance." Alsyf said. Athena appeared and input the data into the display, bringing up a global map of mars and a dot spotting the entrance.

"Mars huh. Yikes that spot sucks." Cayde said.

"Right in the middle of the Exclusion Zone." Zavala said. "Getting through there will be a task indeed." He said standing straight.

"We would like clearance to get to Mars." Theoduin said.

"Oh clearance! Getting all official now?" Cayde said chuckling. "Since when did a thing like clearance matter?"

"We appreciate the consideration." Ikora stressed towards Cayde. "And are happy you came to us rather than directly going straight to the Exclusion Zone. The Cabal have had that area on lockdown, and we want to loosen their grip."

"Get some rest, you'll head out tomorrow.." Zavala said before pressing a button on the table. "Fireteam Wreckers, please report to the Vanguard hall for a, piercing assignment." He said and looked up to Mythic. "Fireteam wreckers will pierce the line and be a distraction while you set up a global link and secure landing zone, as secure as that may be. This is alongside whatever else you may need to do." He said.

"If your mysterious Exo pal was right you need to get at the Garden's heart. This is also forwarding several of unconsidered plans I had straight to the front so thanks for that." Cayde said.

"Such as?" Alsyf asked, and Zavala sighed.

"Well the first is to just punch through cabal lines, find the leader of their forces' kick em in the gonads so hard they retreat' and come back in time for ramen." He said.

"Cayde, please take this seriously." Ikora said.

"He _is_ serious." Zavala said.

"Anyways, thanks guys, I'll win em over, and when I do, well you may not be first in mind but top ten for sure." He said.

"Thanks Cayde, 'preciate it." Theoduin said, shaking his head.

"Rest up Guardians." Zavala said. The three saluted and walked out, wreckers walking down the hall.

"Hey Wreckers!" Sara said. Zeke and Hakame waved, Erini simply nodded, hugging her Sniper to her chest, to be honest it was the first time they'd seen each other without their helmets.

Hakame was a dark blue and indigo Exo, with a more, solid face. Her mouth wasn't a moving mouth, but a light panel. "Hello Mythic." She said. Her panel lighting up green, same as her eyes.

"G'day fellas, how're you doing?" Zeke said. He had a much lighter blue skin tone than expected, and long silver hair.

"Everything go well on Venus?" Erini asked. Her hair was blonde, as well as being in pigtails.

"Vex Lord dusted." Sara said.

"Short and sweet of it is you're providing a distraction for us." Alsyf said.

"Interesting. Is that the piercing op Zavala was speaking of?" Hakame asked.

"The very same. You guys alright with that?" Theoduin asked.

"'Course! No worries from us as long as we have some fun with it!" Zeke said giving a thumbs up.

"What's the sitrep?" Erini asked.

"Cabal, Exclusion Zone." Sara said.

"EZ…Okay, I'll work as Zavala talks. Thank you, we'll get you down there right quick." She said. The three passed each other.

"Erini really likes that rifle." Alsyf said.

"Yeah, always with it, it seems." Sara said.

"Well, we'll get the call when we get it, till then I guess we should hang around the Tower huh?" Theoduin said.

"I guess so, I should do research on this eye, I'll catch you guys later." Sara said. She left her group and went to her room, and looked around.

"We haven't been here in a week." Seraph said.

"It's good to be here." She said as she set the eye on a stand, by her personal computer, and started the scan.

"Shower, then nap." She said as her armor vanished off her and she went to the bathroom. Seraph kept watch over the scan. Sarah soon came out of the shower and just fell into bed with a happy sigh as she curled up under the covers.

And after so much time of dreamless nights, she stood at the Cosmodrome once again. She sighed and waited, but no roar came. She looked around, and out to the distance. She then looked back, and the more rusted familiar Cosmodrome greeted her.

"Huh? Uhh, hey loud boom, you forgot the memo!" She shouted. She was greeted with only a slight wind. "Weird." She said. She started walking, but her heart was racing. She walked into the wall, and when she turned the corner, she was met with darkness. She sighed and walked in, and the sound of her boots on metal suddenly vanished, and was silent as she slowed to a stop.

"Uhm…what?" She said. She peered into the dark, and saw a shifting churning form. It pulsed, and her heart stopped at that moment.

"Oookay, yeah that's new, and terrifying." She said. She noticed a light and looked down, and saw dozens of red dots, glaring. She looked back to the barely visible shape, to three massive red lights staring down on her. The shape pulsed, and pain surged through her body, and the sound boomed, the damn jarring sound.

She shot up with a gasp.

"Oh, nightmares are back on the first night hm?" Seraph asked. He looked over her and did a scan. "Oh…something new then."

"Yeah. There was, it was the Cosmodrom, tones of red lights and I was just in inky darkness." She said.

"Premonition?" He asked.

"Possibly." She muttered. "But I sure as fuck hope not." She said as she sat up and started getting dressed into her casual clothes.

"Oh, got lotsa data from the eye, not as much as we were hoping for, but a good amount." He said.

"I'll look it over later." She said and her armor appeared on her. "Wreckers is going to be active today."

"No need to be that ready." He said. He, beeped, and sighed. "Never mind, apparently." He said with an annoyed tone. Sara gave a grin and put on her helmet and jogged out the door and to the Hanger, and transmatted into her ship, Theoduin and Alsyf following shortly after.

The three flew up to orbit and hopped into warp. Zavala came on the comms.

"Guardians, Wreckers is already 'en route to the Exclusion Zone. They'll fill you in." He said.

"This is Wreckers here." Erini said over comms, her normal attitude replaced with a more professional one.

"This is Mythic, go ahead Wreckers!" Sara said.

"We're about to go down and do a small bombing run nearby your LZ, this will give you the time needed to set up and place a landing beacon for the rest of us. How copy?" She asked.

"Copy is good…" Sara said and shrugged at Seraph.

"Copy that, Wreckers, begin bombing run as soon as we receive the Warp Signal." She said before her comms went off.

"So, this'll be fun." Alsyf said.

"She was really serious." Theoduin said.

"Probably ends the second a gunshot goes." Sara said as the came out of warp, rather close to the planet as they flew down. When they were close to the surface, explosions could be seen not too far off.

"Oh yeah, Cabal are not happy with this, most ships are going to Wreckers, we'll just get flak." Silvia said. And like she said explosions started happening around them, and they started maneuvering around the shots.

"Hey Seraph? Any time man." She said.

"I'm looking…there! Close yet hidden, setting aaaaand-" He said and the three were suddenly on the ground, watching their ships head out. "There!"

"Alsyf, set up the LZ for later, Theoduin let's tale point!" She said as she grabbed her rifle from her back and set up, Theoduin set behind a rock as Alsyf unpacked the gear.

"Doesn't seem like they've noticed us." Sara said.

"Well when we get back to it, we'll be well known." Theoduin said.

"Yeah, keep point." She said as she jogged over to Alsyf and started to help. Soon the LZ was set.

"Wreckers, all set here!" Alsyf said.

"Understood Mythic, we'll be leaving you know. Good luck down here." Hakame said. The comms cut and the three walked out from cover to see a Cabal base not too far.

"Right so, sparrows?" Sara asked.

"Before that it seems anything trying to come in will still be hell, Cabal have Orbital Locks." Alsyf said.

"So? Don't you have some sorta techno lockpick?" Theoduin said.

"Our Ghosts, but they can't do anything here." Sara said.

"Let's try the base." Athena said. The group started the jog over to the bunker, and easily made their way inside.

"Seems, empty?" Theoduin said.

"Riiiight…empty." Sara said. "I don't expect an ambush from these guys but, heads on a swivel." Sara said and they started walking slowly through the bunker, looking around. They came to an open room, with a terminal.

"Okay, someone get on that." Alsyf said.

"I got it." Seraph said and started fiddling with the terminal. "Pff, access key. I don't need an access key. Sheesh DOS is more complica-…oh." He said. The three immediately looked over.

"…Seraph?" Sara asked.

"I maaaay have just-" He started and alarms started blaring. "Yep there it is, a failsafe."

"What does it do!?" Theoduin shouted. Down the hall the main doors of the bunker opened. Behind them, the Cabal, some of them had large shields, and all had their signature Slug Throwers.

"Is that it?" Sara asked as she took cover from the heavy fire from the Cabal.

"Seems so!" Seraph said. "Cut through them and I'll keep working!"

"Time to do some testing!" Alsyf said as Arc Lightning coursed through him. "Sara, Theoduin, wanna join?" He asked.

"Nah, I'm good man." Theoduin said burst firing down the corridor.

"I'll join ya." Sara said as she flared in Solar Light. "Oh, that's warm." She said.

Alsyf grinned under his helmet as he gathered Arc Energy and tossed a grenade well over the Phalanx wall, landing on a cabal, and sticking. It roared before the Grenade detonated, killing it, and a few other cabal.

"Break the damn wall they have!" Theoduin said.

"On it." Sara said gathering Solar Light and tossed the grenade onto the shield of a Cabal, the grenade detonating and causing…a vortex effect.

"Really?" Theoduin said looking over.

"It works!" She shouted and fired at the Phalanxes as they burned.

"But you already can do that!" He shouted. Sara shot at him without looking. "Ey whoa what the hell!"

"At least she's trying something new." Alsyf shouted shooting slowly, aiming for the head. The rest of the low ranking cabal were dispatched quickly.

"Right, Orbital Link established, we have quite the distance to go." Silvia said. The three formed their Sparrows and took off through the dunes, coming up to a Cabal base, with a lot of gunfire between Cabal and Vex.

"Looks like a war here." Alsyf said.

"Ignore it, we have more pressing matters." Sara said. The three skirted outside the battle area and kept flying over the dunes of Mars.

"Outpost ahead, with a large Vex signature." Athena said. The three crested a dune to see a small outpost linked up with a Large Vex gate, heavily guarded too.

"We need an access point." Alsyf said.

"Why not the watch tower?" Theoduin asked.

"Ya know, yeah that makes sense." Sara said. The three blasted down the dune, and were soon being fired upon. They jumped off their sparrows and ran at the outpost and fired at the Cabal. They fought their way through the outpost. Silvia, got ya covered!" Theoduin said as he got to the viewing tower as Silvia appeared and started working, but groaned.

"We need an Access Key." She said.

A few Cabal ships came in and let out new soldiers. Some fired rounds that exploded on impact, including one with more ornate armor.

"He looks like he'd have one!" Alsyf said.

"Alsyf, thin the competition!" Sara said. Alsyf jumped off the tower and pulled out his Shock Dagger and was covered in Arc Light as his blade charged up for the first time since he acquired it, and then overcharged. He ran out and swiftly went from target to target, cutting them down as Theoduin and Sara rained gunfire from above.

"Go on, join the fun, I'll be here." Sara said. Theoduin chuckled as he put his auto rifle on his back, and was covered in arc energy as he jumped off the viewing tower. She sighed as she heard and felt his impact. Alsyf's power ended in front of the bigger guy, and Alsyf was backhanded to the side.

"Oooh, felt that." Sara said as she felt Solar Light well from within her.

"I'm good!" Alsyf said as he stood.

Sara grinned and held her hand to the sun, as that power burst forth. "Stay still big guy." Sara said and tossed grenade after grenade, surrounding and covering the big Cabal in solar vortexes, causing it to roar in pain as gunfire pelted it, till the big guy fell.

"Wasn't that bad." Sara said. Silvia started working on the terminal.

"Woah, they, breached the Vex cognition mesh?" Silvia said.

"Uhhh guys?" Theoduin said. "Gates doin something weird." Sara looked up to see electricity surging through the gate.

"It's trying to open?" Sara said. The electricity builds, then bursts outward, causing the Guardians to brace themselves as the shockwave passes by, messing with their HUDs.

"Traveler that was loud!" Alsyf shouted.

"So, there's a tone here, I'm transmitting that to Seraph and Athena, but I doubt the Cabal even know what this is." Silvia said. "But, better dust off, we have a lot more to do here." Silvia said. Sara sighed.

"Fun, here I was hoping it'd be easy." She said as she sat down to get the sand out of her boots.

"Nothing's easy Sara, not with you around." Theoduin said.

"The hell's that mean!?" Sara shouted as Theoduin laughed.

"Guys just dust off and let's move out." Alsyf said. "Something tells me we're on Mars for some time."

* * *

DWA: Eyyy it's done! I dunno why I have a hard time writing these sections. Possibly farming Relic Iron after classes. Either way, the story continues next time, see ya then!


	20. A Rising Tide

DWA: Heeey all, we're nearing the end of the Black Garden Arc, just a few more chapters! Don't worry, the books got a bit more to go!

 **Chapter 20: A Rising Tide**

* * *

"So, I officially, hate, sand!" Theoduin shouted as the group trudged through a sandstorm.

"Suck it up!" Alsyf shouted into the comms.

"I think he is, I've got sand all in my armor, imagine how it must be for mister tank over there?" Sara shouted.

"I can feel my servos grinding it!" He shouted.

"I though you said it was close Athena!" Alsyf said.

"It was, until your Sparrows blew up and we were cut from the global link. Until that's restored it's…well not too far now, but it was quite a ways two hours ago." She said.

"I wonder why?" Sara said. "Once we get that conflux we need a cave to get the sand out, but I get the feeling we're in for a rough fight before that." It didn't take long for the Guardians to see a pillar of light in the storm.

"Spotted!" Theoduin said. The three made their way as the storm started to die down, albeit slowly.

As they approached, several lights flashed in the storm.

"Uhhh, who else saw that?" Alsyf said taking out his Hand Cannon.

"We got Vex!" Sara shouted as red eyes lit up and red bolts of Solar energy were flung through the storm.

"Aim, below the eyes!" Theoduin shouted.

One light was getting closer, fast.

"Minotaur!" Sara shouted as they started firing back. Sara formed a Solar Grenade and tossed it at the group as Theoduin rushed the Minotaur with his shotgun, being so close as to easily see it, and the other Vex. He started blasting it, but the Minotaur got two smacks in with its claw before it went down.

"Easy!" He shouted as he pulled out his auto rifle. Sara rushed up beside him firing below the eyes of the Vex, three falling in rapid succession, the rest taken out by Alsyf's skillful aiming with his Hand Cannon.

"Well, that was easy…" Alsyf said as they made their way to the Conflux. He let out Athena who started scanning the conflux.

"This is just a small part of a larger group. Beneath the Buried City. We don't cut them off, Mars could end up like Mercury." She said.

"Do we have vehicle link?" Sara asked. Athena looked up.

"Not quite yet. Almost." She said. Sara groaned.

"I'm so tired of this." She said and stretched.

"Same, I'll be right back." Theoduin said and walked into a cave.

"I'll wait." Sara said and started walking. Alsyf sighed and shrugged and followed. After a few minutes of walking Theoduin caught up.

"Feel better?" Sara asked.

"Just a bit, I know it'll get back in my armor somehow…" Theoduin said with a heavy sigh.

"Hey, Links up!" Silvia said.

"Finally!" Sara said. Alsyf laughed as the others summoned their sparrows and took off, Alsyf following after. The drove for a time before arriving at the city, and driving past Cabal patrols and even seeing other guardians out and about. They arrived at their location and headed inside the building only to find it pitch black.

"Second verse same as the first eh?" Theoduin said as Silvia appeared and shone light into the room, Athena and Seraph following suit. The sound of metal on ceramic filled the room.

"See red, aim low." Alsyf said as he pulled out his hand cannon. A wooshing noise was heard as several vex teleported into the room and immediately opened fire.

The Guardians all fired back, a few vex getting destroyed before they took cover.

"We could push through." Alsyf said and shot a few down. "Nothing big…yet." He said.

"You gotta point." Sara said and popped up to take out a couple Hobgoblins in the back before pushing through the room, Theoduin rushing through with a shotgun. Sara laughed as she pushed with him to the next room. Alsyf cleaned up the last few Vex with his hand cannon. The group come across what looked like the entrance to the subway. There was still a lot of vex.

Not to mention a Cyclops charging up its eye cannon.

"Oh…fun." Sara said. She started sprinting to the side. "Alsyf take high, Theoduin go low!" She shouted.

"Beat ya too it!" Alsyf shouted using his double jump to get to a higher area in the station, and started sniping the Cyclops.

The shots to its eye caused it to malfunction and eject it energy in a random pattern as Theoduin took out what he could. Sara took pot shots at what was in the back row.

"I see two Minotaurs advancing rapidly!" Sara shouted as she saw the large explosion of the Cyclops' death.

Theoduin rushed forward and gathered his Arc Light to slam his fists in the ground, cleaning up the lesser vex. Alsyf took out the shields on both Minotaurs, Sara and Theoduin finishing the off quickly. The group made sure the area was clear and took a breather.

"This is nuts." Sara said.

"Not only do we have the Vex to deal with, but there's also the Cabal." Alsyf said.

"Hey, besides the sand I'm having fun." Theoduin said laughing.

"Oh the fighting is nice sure but seriously, I doubt we're getting a break till the Garden is dealt with." She said as she looked over her scout rifle and started cleaning it out.

"Banshee's gonna be pissed." Theoduin laughed.

"Well, we can't relax here forever. The Vex aren't gonna sit and wait." Alsyf said.

"I hate to say it but he's right." Sara said. "We gotta figure this surge out." The group headed down into the tunnels, it wasn't long before they came across more Vex, and Vex Gates.

"Why do I get the feeling humanity will be dealing with Vex to the end of time." Theoduin said.

"Assuming we're still classified as humans by then." Sara said as she ducked in cover.

"You're wrong Sara, the assumption is that there's still a humanity left." Alsyf said as he popped vex one by one with each shot of his hand cannon.

"So I choose to be optimistic what of it!?" She shouted as she peppered shots down range, Theoduin blasting the Vex Gates.

"Just being realistic." He said as the group moved forward.

"No, it's pessimistic!" Theoduin shouted as a torch hammer shot whizzed by. The group looked over to see a rather large Minotaur.

"So, I guess the big boss wants to die huh?" Sara said.

"I'll clear the area, you two have fun!" Alsyf shouted as he cloaked himself in Arc Light, charging his Shock Dagger and rushing at the smaller Vex as Theoduin charged forth, also covered in Arc Light. Sara sighed as her body gained a purple hue for a second and she ran forward.

She recalled picking up on this quickly, switching Light Subtypes for some guardians could be tough in stressful situations. But for others it's as simple as a dial with three settings.

Arc, Void, Solar. Of course most Guardians don't have access to all three apparently. But Sara took to the dial metaphor very well, using it as a way to switch her subtype on the fly. Radiance is great, but when something just needs to die…

Theoduin crashed into the Minotaur, knocking it over on its back. It shoved Theoduin Away as he jumped back. Sara glided up and gathered Void Light in her hand, before sending it straight at the Vex, a Lance Nova Bomb, travels faster, straight, and it's stronger. It slammed into it and exploded, the Vex disintegrating.

…A Nova bomb does it best.

"Wasn't so tough, maybe the Cabal will be able to handle us better?" Theoduin asked.

"Hey, Conflux, let me at it." Athena said. Alsyf walked over and let Athena out to scan the Conflux.

"Who knows Theoduin? But I doubt they'll just roll over for ya." Alsyf said

"Good, hate when things give up in the middle of a fight." Theoduin replied

"What did you find?" Sara asked.

"It's…not an invasion?" Athena said. "It's…they're returning home. To the Black Garden. The Vex are being called back. They know we're getting close, we'll have an army there if we don't hurry." Athena said.

"I'm sure we're too late by a century…" Sara said. "Let's get this eye charged!" She said and made a break for the surface.  
(Continue with next mission, show a bit of Blitzkrieg or Wreckers)

-Back at the tower, Fireteam Wreckers relaxes at home.-

"Well that was fun!" Zeke said leaning back in his chair. The Awoken Titan had pants and a simple shirt on.

"Still reminiscing over a bombing run?" Hakame asked. Hakame had a robe covering her body, much like a Warlocks Armor, just, not armor. And a single piece.

"Ahh let the man have fun." Erini said as she sipped from a milkshake. "I enjoyed it. How often does any Guardian get cleared for heavy ordinance eh?" She was wearing cargo pants and a t-shirt, her rifle, the No Land Beyond, propped up next to her.

The group was on a patio space on the lower levels of the tower, a nice space to relax

"Yes but the adrenalin rush should have worn off." Hakame muttered. Erini shrugged and went back to her milkshake.

Zeke sat forward and gained a, troubled look.

"Zeke?" Hakame asked, looking over to him. "Where did the fun go?" She teased.

"I just had a thought…like, I heard those guys talking once. Mythic I mean. Said they were going for the Black Garden, hell it was in our Mission report too." He said. Erini looked to him, then Hakame.

"And?" She asked.

"Well, if they get in…I mean you've heard the rumors." He said. "Hostile as all get out and all that. You reckon they'll come back the same, if even at all?" He asked. Hakame looked down at her hands.

"They'll be fiiine." Erini said. "Listen, they're Fireteam leader was resurrected in the Devil's territory, they fought an Archon, right out the gate. These guys have seen combat and then some. While it's true we aint decaders, but, we know our shit too." She said. "They'll come back, just fine."

"And if they don't?" Hakame said.

"Well then, I don't rightly know." She said. "But they'll come back. I'm sure of it." She said.

"And when they do, I'd like to challenge them in the Crucible." Hakame said.

"Here we go." Zeke chuckled.

"What?" Hakame asked.

"I swear you have to have a deal with Shaxx, you love the Crucible far too much Hakame." Erini said.

"How many fights have you instigated just to settle them in the Crucible?" Zeke asked.

"On accident through calm and collected words, sixteen. On purpose, four." She said looking away.

"You're a big fucking liar." Zeke laughed.

"No comment." She said, causing Erini and Zeke to laugh. Erini stood and went to the railing of the patio.

"Thinking Erini?" Zeke said

"Yes, you guys realize how much of an anomaly Mythic is?" She said turning and leaning back on the railing.

"Mind explaining?" Zeke asked as Hakame sighed.

"Think for once Zeke." She said.

"Hey! I think a lot and you know it…that retort doesn't help does it?" He said slumping in his chair.

"Not at all." Hakame said laughing softly. "But yes we know how important your input is."

"Anyways, Mythics groups are upstarts, not even a year old yet. Kinderguardians. Yet they kill an Archon, and are now going after the Garden." Erini said. "The hunters are going stir crazy cause they all want in the Garden!" She shouted.

"The Warlocks are eagerly awaiting what the Hunters bring back." Hakame said. "Barring the Praxic's of course."

"Titans are just as interested. They wanna bust in and shoot the shit outta anything left behind. For once most of the tower is waiting with bated breath." Zeke said.

"All because of three Guardians" Erini said. "To be honest, I'm excited to be friends with them." She said.

"Why's that?" Hakame asked.

"Oh Hakame…is it not obvious?" Zeke asked. "The Tower's been at a standstill for quite some time. Now? Things are happening. And I guarantee, they're the catalyst for change. I wouldn't be surprised to see them at the forefront of a push back force." He said.

"I plan to be with them every step." Erini said. "Like hell I'm sittin back." She said. Hakame chuckled.

"Yes…it's time to keep moving forward. Let's just not forget to stay in the Light. The three looked up to the Traveler, dormant as ever.

* * *

DWA: Aaaand late again. It's…eh I dunno really. I enjoy writing but other times I just need sleep. Maybe I should wirte at better times. I'll experiment. Either way, hope you all enjoy! Don't forget to review!


	21. The Garden's Spire

DWA: Hey all, how are you enjoying this so far! Though yes the chapters have slowed down I'm still enjoying writing it!

 **Chapter 21: The Garden's Spire**

* * *

Sara, Alsyf, and Theoduin sat in a long rundown building, taking a break and hiding from Cabal patrols. Guardians don't feel fatigue per-say, so long as their Light persists, but, they can still feel tired. Sara was on watch as the other two slept during the night, and their Ghosts were working on a terminal linked to the Cabal Battlenet.

Sara was, in a more meditative state. Sure she was watching the dunes for any sniper scopes but, she was also thinking.

About the Garden, if it may hold answers about herself, if they exist in the first place.

And her dream, the massive red lights, the hundreds below. Something with Vex? The color fit. She sighed and looked up, and she squinted as she swore she saw someone on the farthest dunes. She raised her Scout Rifle and set it to maximum zoom, but, if there was something there, or someone, it was gone.

"I'll have Seraph go over it later." She muttered. She set her rifle back down and sighed as another drop ship flew overhead.

"Sara!" Seraph called in a loud whisper. Sara got up and walked over to the monitor the three Ghosts were working on. "Whatcha got?"

"A Vex Spire. Linked to the Garden." Athena said.

"We can use it to power up the eye and set coordinates for the Garden. Then, that massive Vex Gate is our ticket in." Sylvia said.

"But it's somewhere at a warbase." Seraph said. "So, it's gonna be a long battle with one of the more traditional armies in the system."

"Compared to us you mean." She said.

"Correct." He said.

"So get some rest, we'll keep watch from now on." Athena said.

Sara didn't need to be told twice as she found a nice chair to sit in and quickly fell asleep.

Sara awoke in pitch black darkness, she couldn't even see her hand in front of her.

"Ah, this again?" She muttered as she stood, and started walking. "So, what's new this time?" She wondered out loud, turning as she walked. It didn't seem to matter where she went. Her feet seemed to make no impact nor did she get the sense of movement.

But suddenly she got the sense that something passed her by. In front of her, hundreds of lights, all red, all just appeared.

"Vex?" She asked herself. But, she was suddenly stuck, she couldn't move. Nine more appeared above the mass of light, then two more above that. Then they all faded.

Then came that loud mechanical roar. She'd almost forgotten it.

"Light, cannot smother, the Dark!" It said. The voice sounded, angry. Almost enraged. She felt a pulse in her chest. She felt to her knees, gasping for air that didn't seem to exist.

"Light, will not, smother, the Dark!"

"Y-You can kiss my ass!" She said clutching her chest. It felt like it was about to burst. "So fuck off!" She shouted and there was a bust of light. She heard two screams and jolted awake, panting in her helmet, her heartrate high according to her HUD, and Alsyf and Theoduin on the other side of the room.

"Owww." Alsyf said standing up. It just occurred to Sara that she was also standing.

"G-guys? What happened?" She asked.

"You tell us!" Theoduin said. "We'd woken up and planned to let you rest when you just, fall outta your chair and start writing on the ground!"

"We go to help you and you stand up and let out a burst of Light with enough force to send us flying. Not to mention yelling at something." Alsyf said.

"I…I'm sorry, nightmare." She said.

"Sara I hate to say, but I don't think that was a nightmare." Theoduin said.

"It changed…" She muttered.

"Sara, I need to ask you something." Alsyf said getting closer quickly.

"…Shoot." Sara said.

"You didn't tell us everything when you told us about your nightmare, I could tell." He said. Sara sighed.

"Look, now's not the best-" She started.

"What else was there?" He said.

Sara sighed, and looked around. "A voice spoke to me. All it ever said was one phrase. Light cannot smother the Dark."

"Well if that ain't ominous." Theoduin said.

"And it was right. I hurt you guys from picking up the sword." She said clenching her fists.

"…So why not tell us off the bat?" Alsyf asked.

"I dunno, it didn't feel right." She said. "By the way, it changed…it said Light will not smother the Dark." She said. "It sounded angry."

"Well, that's good!" Theoduin said.

"Good?" Alsyf asked.

"Yeah, it's obviously frustrated you've succeeded in keeping your Darkness in!" He said and walked over and clapped a hand onto her shoulder. "But that means it's gonna try harder."

"Theoduin that's not good." Sara said. "But thanks for the vote of confidence." She said.

"Hey, just be careful alright? You may not be a Traveler devotee like some people I've seen, but you're definitely a Guardian." Theoduin said.

"And while I'm worried, Theoduin's right Sara. You're a Guardian through and through. I mean if you weren't, I wouldn't be here now." Alsyf said.

"Yeah, you did cut him in half with Crota's sword. And guess what, you didn't give him his final death!" Theoduin said arms wide. Sara just stared at the two.

"Ya know I didn't think about that, thanks. I am now coming to terms I could have given Alsyf his final death." She said.

"Oh…you didn't think about that?" Alsyf asked.

"Nope." Sara said.

"Not once?" Theoduin said in disbelief.

"Look there was a helluva lot more going through my head thank you." Sara said.

"Obviously not a well known slice of history." Alsyf said with a laugh and crossing his arms.

"Oh quiet!" She said. "Let's get going to the base to charge the eye." She said.

The Three Guardians sped across the dunes of Mars, heading for their goal, Firebase Rubicon.

"So, we need a terminal, the three of us will locate the Spire better." Seraph said.

"I thought you three already knew?" Alsyf asked.

"We know it's at Rubicon, we just don't know where." Athena said. "A terminal at Rubicon would have specifics."

The three arrived at the Firebase, and were greeted with a friendly hail of bullets from the Cabal.

"How kind of the Cabal." Theoduin said, shooting bursts from his auto rifle.

"Yo Seraph, up there?" Seraph asked looking at a guard tower.

"That would work, get up there!" Seraph shouted.

"No need to yell." Sara said as she shot at the Cabal, killing most with a couple headshots. The group quickly burned through the Cabal, getting to the terminal in the Tower.

"Silvia!" Theoduin said. Silvia appeared and started working on the terminal.

"Let's see…no…no…no, no, come on where are you?" She shouted.

"Hey, don't worry about subtlety!" Alsyf shouted as he sniped incoming cabal with Sara.

"Fine! Just let all of Mars know where here." She said. "Okay, behind a defense line away from here." She said. Alarms blared here, and echoing in the distance.

"Seraph, open a public channel to all Guardians in this area." Sara said as she jumped off the defensive wall, summoning her sparrow midair, her teammates following.

"Attention all Guardians in the area, apologies. Or you're welcome! Depends where you are. Most of the Cabal are now very angry. Have fun!" She aid as the group sped along the dunes to the other defense line. There was suddenly a lot of shouting before the line cut off.

"Yeah, that sounded happy." Alsyf said.

"Shut up and eyes forward." She said.

"I'm sure it was happy shouting." Theoduin said.

The group made it to an area pinged as the Iron Line, riding up to the bases entrance. It was oddly, calm.

Alarms blared and the three got ready to fight and faced away from the door, until the sound of the door opening came from behind them.

"Did, they invite us in?" Alsyf asked. "Bullshit."

"Yeah it's a trap." Sara said and started walking inside.

"So you walk in?" Alsyf asked.

"You got a better route?" Theoduin asked walking in after her.

"Really wish you just said idea." Alsyf said as he checked his Hand Cannon and ran inside. The doors closed behind them, and in front of them, another set of doors opened, many Legionnaires walking in, speaking amongst themselves.

"They sound so proud." Theoduin said. The Cabal aimed their weapons as the door closed behind them, others walking out of other doors into the room.

"How does that saying go Sara? You've wanted to say it for a while now?" Alsyf asked.

"Oh, perfect timing! You think you've locked us in with you?" Sara asked. The Cabal looked around at eaqch other.

"You're locked in here with us." She said as she threw a Solar Grenade. The group blazed through the waves of Cabal, the lower ranks posing a decent enough challenge. The group went through the large door and shot their way through the base, before coming to a locked door.

"Through here." Athena said floating to the door and beginning to work on it.

"…We're almost there." Sara said. "Almost at the Garden."

"Getting goosebumps?" Alsyf asked.

"Nervous. Kinda scared what we'll find at the heart." She said.

"Ahh that's nerves, you'll be fine." Theoduin said.

"I hope you're right." Sara said as the door opened. The group walked outside and say a structure not far.

"The bridge." Alsyf said.

"Oh that'll be fun." Theoduin said. The group made a sprint for the bridge and took cover from the fire of all the Cabal.

"This damn things a choke point!" Alsyf said.

"Yeah, Alsyf, Bladedancer ready?"" Theoduin asked.

"It is, why?...Never mind." He said and pulled out his Shock Dagger and cloaked himself in Arc Light and ran out there, cutting down the Cabal, Sara and Theoduin doing clean up on the group. The crossed the bridge and made their way to a large Vex Spire.

"There it is." Sara said running up to a small device facing the spire.

"A conduit." Seraph said. "Slot the eye inside." Sara formed the eye in her hand, and put it in the conduit. A beam came from the Spire to the eye, holding steady.

"So, we just wait?" Alsyf asked.

"That's boring." Theoduin said. A door opened nearby, a large Cabal jetpacking out into the middle of the area, Legionaries and Psions following.

"Why do you speak?" Alsyf asked.

"Because good things happen!" Theoduin said as he took cover.

"Your definition of 'good' is incredibly skewed!" Alsyf shouted as he fired at the reinforcements with his sniper.

"Oh let him have fun!" Sara said, more interested in the spire. The cables the Cabal had inserted into the spire were severed as the top split into several pieces. The floated away from the top to reveal a conflux, as the pieces disintegrate. Suddenly a projectile whizzed by Sara's head, detonating behind her.

"Woah!" She shouted and took cover.

"I have a ping on our friend! Primus Sha'aull. Pretty mean and has an explosive weapon. Pretty standard as Primus' go." Seraph said.

"Be disappointed later!" Sara said. The three took care of the rest of his allies, and the Primus was alone, but not deterred. He roared and shot more explosives at them, the group taking potshots. Sara growled.

"Listen pal, I'm on the cusp of a grand scientific discovery and I will not let a big space turtle get in the way of that!" She shouted as she flashed a purple light.

"Was that supposed to be inspiring or something?" Theoduin asked.

"No, I'm just pissed!" She shouted and jumped up before firing a Lance Nova Bomb, the explosion heavily damaging the Cabal, his jetpack, and breaking off his helmet. The cabal roared as Alsyf lined up.

"No helmet, no shield, hardly any wind, a snipers dream!" He shouted and fired, the shot cleanly passing through the Primus' skull, causing him to fall. Sara ran over to the conduit as the conflux vanished.

"The eye is charged!" Sara said pulling it out. The eye was digitized into her backpack and she sighed.

"So, to the Garden?" Alsyf asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Sara said. There was no time to rest, the Garden awaited them.

Along with whatever was inside.

* * *

DWA: aaand there we go! Apologies for this being late. Work had me messed up, still may. But, I finally gathered energy to finish up! Anyways, reviews are always appreciated!


	22. The Black Garden

DWA: All right everyone! It's time! The Black Garden! This doesn't mark the end of the book, still got a few things for the teams to wrap up afterwards!

 **Chapter 22: The Black Garden**

* * *

Fireteam Mythic were walking to the Gate from the Firebase, tensions were high, as a lot was riding on this. The Traveler was weak, and needed to heal.

But the Garden prevented it all.

"So, you guys ready?" Sara asked.

"Hey now, that's something to ask when we're standing at the gate." Alsyf said.

"Ahhh she's nervous. Leave her be." Theoduin said.

"Yeah yeah I'm nervous." Sara said. "How are you not?"

"I'm thinking of all those back home. They need us. It gets rid of that, knowing what you're protecting." He said.

"That's…pretty damn good actually. Alsyf?" Sara said, looking to the Hunter.

"Uncharted territory. Helping the Traveler. I'm nervous yeah, but duty is overcoming that." He said.

Sara sighed as they came over a dune, and the Gate was in sight, oddly, there were no Cabal or vex around.

"Maybe they're having a party." Theoduin said.

"Either way, we need to get inside." Sara said as she slid down the dune, the other two following. They made their way to the gate and looked up at it.

"Sara, wanna do the honors?" Alsyf asked as he pulled out his Hand Cannon.

Seraph appeared beside her. "This is it…we don't have a second chance." He said.

"Right, we all ready?" She asked. Theoduin gave a thumbs up, as Alsyf nodded.

"The eyes reacting!" Seraph said as the gate whirred and hummed as the ring glowed. Suddenly there was a flash of blinding light. When the three could see again, the gate was open. Sara took out her Scout rifle, and Theoduin his auto rifle. The three stepped inside, appearing on the other side.

Sara was gasping for air she didn't need. Something knew she was here.

And she knew _it_ was here. Whatever it was. It wanted to meet her.

It couldn't wait.

"Where are we?" Alsyf asked. Sara shook her head and looked to Athena, who was consulting her records to current coordinates.

"Well, wherever we are, be it the Garden or somewhere else…we're not on any known map of time or space." She said before vanishing.

"Oh that instills confidence." Theoduin said.

"Well, let's move." Sara said as she was looking all around.

"You're recording this aren't you?" Alsyf asked.

"…You aren't?" She asked.

"Let's go already." Alsyf sighed as he walked ahead. The group walked for a time before they came upon a Vex, standing upright, immobile. Moss and other plant life had grown on its body.

"Is it…sleeping? Do Vex sleep?" Theoduin asked.

"No, so…is it in stasis or just, powered down?" Sara asked herself as she ran her hand on the body, moving the moss and plant life.

"Yeah I'm creeped out let's go." Alsyf said.

"Pushy pushy, not a fan of statues I see?" Theoduin said pushing Alsyf. Sara followed close behind. They passed several more Vex, before Sara stopped.

She heard footsteps behind her. Sara whipped around to see three vex, active and guns raised.

"Shit!" Sara shouted and fired, six shots up them down.

"What happened?" Alsyf shouted.

"The Vex are waking up!" She said, and all the Vex in the area came to life. Theoduin grabbed one by the 'neck' and slammed it to the ground, punching its core.

"We already know the solution, put em back to sleep!" He shouted. Alsyf expertly hit his shots on their cores, the hand cannon popping them like bubbles. After much gunfire, the Vex were dead.

"Let's move." Sara said. They ran until they came to an exit to the corridors they had wandered, seeing a blue green sky, and fields upon fields of red flowers on top of angular plains.

"This is it, the Black Garden, who knows how long it's been since anyone set foot here?" She said.

"Mmm, I dunno Sara, I'm thinking we should rename it. The Red Garden sounds much more appropriate." He said.

"…Theoduin?" She said.

"Yeah what's up?" He asked. Sara punched him upside the head. "OW what the fuck!?"

"Don't you dare ruin this moment for me you metallic brawler!" She shouted.

"I'm just making an observation like you always tell me to do you don't need to punch me!" He shouted back. Alsyf sighed as the two argued behind him.

"My Fireteam lead is a child and my Titan is an idiot." He said. He then noticed a lack of fighting.

"Comms are on you know…" Sara said. There was silence between the group for a moment, before Alsyf took off running.

He figured he shouldn't die here, and with the malicious intent behind him, running into a horde of Vex seemed like he'd have a better chance of survival.

He got lucky they found the Vex first, and the infighting, childish as it was, stopped as they fought the stiff opposition. Through hordes of Goblins, Hobgoblins and Minotaurs, the group had much to contend with. Their first obstacle came with a large barrier, and a Hydra. It let out a cry and several Vex appeared. The Hydra had bushes rowing out of its cannons, and vines all over it.

"Aww cmon, why block us?" Theoduin whined as he shot at it, only for the Hydra to put up its large Barrier.

The Hydra wailed as several Vex appeared around it, and the Hydra let out a volley of explosive shots, seemingly having four cannons. The three took cover quickly from the blasts it was peppering them with.

"So, who wants to pop their head out first?" Alsyf asked.

"Like. Hell." Theoduin said. The footsteps of multiple Vex could be heard nearby. "Okay maybe soon."

"I'll take care of the smaller guys." Sara said getting her Machine Gun out. Unlike the last many Machine Guns she's had, this one had a much lower fire rate for higher damage. She set up on her cover and started firing, taking out Vex. Alsyf and Theoduin nodded to each other and peeked out of their cover and started shooting the Hydra when they could, taking cover as needed.

It was a painfully slow process.

"This, is not fun. Who thought four fucking Torch Hammers was a good idea!?" Theoduin shouted.

"The Vex, obviously!" Alsyf shouted as he sniped the Hydra three times before ducking into cover. "Fucking asshat!"

"Hey all the little guys are down!" Sara shouted as she pelted the Hydra before all four Hammers pointed at her. She tried to run to cover but was pelted with Void explosives. Her body caught a large amount of air as she flew overhead her two teammates.

"Ffffuck that's funny…" Theoduin said stifling laughter.

"…Just go get her while I distract it." Alsyf sighed as he ran out and fired a rocket, the missile just barely catching the shield, all four cannons now pointing at Alsyf.

"…Uhh, wanna talk?" He asked before running at the first shot.

"Nice shot!" Theoduin shouted as he poured light into Seraph, rezzing Sara.

"Thanks man, what'd I miss?" She asked. Suddenly Void projectiles flew overhead and they took cover.

"I wanna Nova Bomb it but I'd rather not miss." She said. "Hey, hit its cannons!"

"On it!" Alsyf and Theoduin said and fired rockets at it, hitting where its cannons were, on each side one cannon was out of commission.

"Nice!" Alsyf said as Solar energy covered him and his hand began to glow a bright orange. The second the shield moved out of the way, he summoned his Golden Gun, and blasted it three times, the third shot blasting straight through it. The Vex Mind fell to the ground before exploding, the barrier vanishing. The three sighed and reloaded their weapons and passed through the area.

They soon got to a large expanse, with a large door at the other side. It split off at the sides as well. Seraph appeared near Sara's shoulder.

"It's a dead end, but after being here for so long…it's just one massive machine. I've got a way in. Get me to a data cluster. One of the side paths!" He said.

The Guardians nodded and rushed ahead on the left side, where many Goblins were waiting, as well as a couple Hobgoblins and Minotaurs. Alsyf took place up high, sniping down what he could as Theoduin barreled through them with his shotgun. Sara made it to the data cluster, a large bronzed dicks, with data appearing in the middle. Seraph flew to it and started working.

"Okay, I think I…yes yes! I can manipulate it. Just need to break…the manifold…encryption…got it!" He shouted. Alsyf looked behind him to see fractal patterns forming a spire behind him.  
"Perfect, the spire is forming!"

"Switching sides!" He shouted as he ran across, Sara and Theoduin following and blasting their way past the Vex. Sara let Seraph do his thing.

"It's easy when it makes sense, we're in business!" Seraph said. The fractal pattern vanished, and the spire took its place, as well as a conflux. The three make their way to it.

"Now we just need permission, as a Gate Lord." Seraph said. He activated the conflux, and the Gate Lord's eye appeared in front of Sara, suddenly flying up in front of the spire and stopping with a suddenness that it could be felt through the area. A line of light shot into the eye, and then into the outer edges of the ring. The door opens from the bottom, parts sliding upward.

"The Heart…" Theoduin said. He held his rifle a bit tighter.

"…No time to waste, here goes nothing." Alsyf said loading his Hand Cannon.

"…Or everything." Sara said. Her heart was pounding, equal parts hatred and giddy excitement.  
The two sides of her were fighting to have the dominant emotion. They walk in, and the atmosphere changes instantly. Teal blue sky turned to an abysmal dark brown.

The scene was, odd, yet like a movie. The heart moved and pulsated, electricity sparking around it. Vex down on one knee, arms spread looking up at it. And three massive statues of Vex Minotaurs, each sporting a different look. The Vex suddenly shift, their arms locking into a moveable position as they turn, odd noises emanating from them. They start to stand up.

Seraph looks to the three and then vanishes. He then says over their comms: "So, think you can kill a God?"

"Don't think we have a choice." Sara said. A burst of energy flies from the Heart to the center statue. The Statue starts to turn.

"That's our queue! Go!" Sara shouted as they all jumped into the arena, Alsyf pulling out his Sniper as Theoduin jumped right into the Vex group and slammed his fist into a Vex, causing an explosion of Arc energy, vaporizing those around him. Sara tossed a Scatter Grenade into another cluster of Vex, the burst grenade destroying several.

The statue locked into place and the stone began to fall off, revealing metal underneath.

The Goblins and Hobgoblins lied dead as the group watched the statue. The stone covering burst off, and now a massive Gate Lord stood. In its chest was a black pulsing sphere of Darkness. It looked at its opponents, and suddenly vanished. It appeared behind Alsyf and slammed its hand into him, sending him flying.

"I gotcha!" Theoduin said and jumped up, catching him and covering his landing.

"Thanks, so this thing can warp?" Alsyf said standing up. The Gate Lord warped in front of the platform Alsyf had been standing on. Its right hand folded on itself, and opened, turning into a Torch Hammer. It pointed at Sara and fired at her, Sara jumping back to avoid it. It then fired to her left, so she jumped right to avoid it.

The Gate Lord kept adjusting its aim, until Sara was next to her Fireteam. It them charged up its Torch Hammer and fired a shot that lifted its arm and made it stumble.

"Shit!" Alsyf shouted. "That'll do way too much damage!"

"I gotcha!" Theoduin shouted as he flashed purple. He crossed his arm and then spread them out, a bubble of void energy burst from him. The barrier took the shot, but vanished after.

"The Ward…" Sara said.

"C'mon, just cause I'm offensive doesn't mean I don't understand why it's so useful. Scatter!" He shouted. The three moved off, Alsyf gaining distance as he shot his sniper at the Gate Lord, the shots leaving holes in its armor.

Sara pulled out her Machine gun and sprayed it down, each shot aimed at its chest cavity, trying to destroy the Darkness within it as Theoduin pelted it with Auto Rifle fire. The Gate Lord warped over to Sara and attempted to stomp on her, slamming its food down as she blinked backwards the shockwave launching her back. It spun around and shot Torch Hammer shots at Theoduin, who had to take cover. It then charged up another heavy shot and launched it at Alsyf, who jumped off his Platform to avoid the explosion.

"Hey. Is it me or is this thing way more reactive?" Sara asked as she stood up and started unloading again.

"Not just you!" Theoduin shouted as he fired a rocket into it, causing it to stagger. He then threw a Pulse grenade into it, damaging it constantly. The Gate Lord warped over to Theoduin and slammed its fist down, Theoduin catching it, hearing his plating on his armor and body break from blocking the blow.

"Oh fucking enough!" He shouted. He shoved its arm away and pulled out his shotgun and started blasting away at its core. He was happy his new shotgun had a much higher rate of fire than his last ones. The Gate Lord cried out in pain and stumbled back. Theoduin ran up a wall next to him and jumped off, his fist glowing with Arc Light, brighter than normal as he slammed his fist into the core, shattering the darkness inside it.

"Hell yeah!" Alsyf shouted as the Vex Lord fell. The Heart pulsed and sent out more Darkness into another statue, causing it to turn.

"It's, not over." Sara said backing off. The statue shattered and revealed a much shinier Vex. Its head was of a different design, the flare open and thin, like two parts were missing, they weren't filled in. It stepped down and on its left arm, the shield. Of a Hydra formed, yet it seemed more like a round shield instead. Its right hand folded in and formed a Dark Sword, swinging it to the side.

"So…a knight?" Alsyf asked.

"Don't underestimate it!" Sara shouted as it charged forth, swinging down on her seeing the opening. Sara blinked to the left as the blade slammed into the ground, causing dust and debris to fly from the point of impact. "You go after me!? I'm the one probably overestimating you!" She shouted, only for the blade to slam into her as it came from the ground, flinging her away.

"Maybe you should not harass the massive Minotaur!" Alsyf shouted firing a rocket at it. It brought up its left arm and the rocket exploded on the shield, leaving the Minotaur unharmed.

"Hey, think I can rip its arm off?" Theoduin asked peppering it with burst fire from his auto rifle. Sara sat up as she felt her arm snap back into place.

"You have Fist ready?" Sara asked standing up and pulling out her Machine Gun.

Theoduin jumped to the side as the behemoth swung down to where he was. He then ran off to a safer spot as Alsyf shot at its arm socket, trying to cause issues with its right arm.  
"Almost, gimmie a bit more time…hey! You can just blast a Nova Bomb on its arm can't ya?" He shouted.

""I could but it might block it! Close Range Nova's are deadly to me too ya know!" Sara shouted back. She fired her machine gun causing it to face her and block her bullets with its shield. It nearly sprinted to her and swung at her with a sweep, the tip of its beam sword catching her. She stumbled and fell behind the platform she was on.

"That, hurts a lot!" She said clutching her gut.

"Oh you're fine it didn't cut you open. If you weren't a Guardian it would just leave a large scar." Seraph said.

"If I wasn't a Guardian I'd die of blood loss! I might anyways…" She muttered. Theoduin started to charge a large amount of Arc Light, but was cut off by the Gate Lord back kicking him into a wall.

"Dammit! I'm pretty sure it knows what I'm trying to do." He said getting up. He tossed a flashbang over its head, the grenade exploding in front of it, the Gate Lord started swinging wildly, trying to hit any threats around it. Sara took shots where she could, as did Alsyf as Theoduin looked for an opening. The Gate Lord slowed its movements and turned to face Theoduin and brought up its left arm and brought down the shield upon Theoduin. He jumped back to avoid it, but, it just rammed its shield into Theoduin and pinned him to the wall. Theoduin was being crushed.

"Perfect!" Sara said as she ran up a staircase and started gliding as she gathered Void Light in her palm. "Suck it!" She shouted as she launched the Nova Bomb, the attack hitting its left shoulder and exploding. The Vex Lord let out a glitchy sounding roar as its arm was severed, strands of dark snapping as it fell away. The shield vanished and Theoduin grabbed the arm and swung it into the Gate Lord's body, causing it to stagger. Theoduin tossed it aside and pulled out his rocket and fired, the Vex Lord getting hit in the chest as it staggered, causing it to fall over.

Alsyf took out his Sniper and started taking shots at its good shoulder as it tried to get up. Sara grabbed her fusion rifle and ran up to its chest and let loose blast after blast into the Heart piece it had, until it exploded, knocking her back.

"Two!" Alsyf said as the Heart let out another pulse, and another shard launched into the third stature. This one broke open and another Gate Lord stepped down from the pedestal. This one looked. Older. Rust had covered its body long ago, and it had a disk like head. Its arms opened up and formed a more, tube like shape. It aimed at Alsyf and fired a laser that shot Alsyf back. Another came from its eye, streaking past Theoduin, the ground it struck exploding and sending him back as well. Sara suddenly took cover.

"Activating Ammo Synths." Sara said as she pulled out a small white box with a green stripe and pressed the button on one side, data streaming to her backpack. She did the same to a white and grey and white and purple one.

"I'm fine, by the way." Alsyf said, groaning in pain, over the comms.

"Yeah Sara, thanks for the concern." Theoduin said as he ran into nearby cover. A blast happened just beside him.

"You're tough. Besides, worse to worry about." She said.

"Yeah, lasers." Alsyf said.

"Let's go!" Sara said as she ran from cover to cover, each time she went out explosions happened behind her, causing damage to her shield. She took pot shots whenever she could, Theoduin and Alsyf using their primaries to start damaging it. The Gate lord turned to Alsyf and blasted him with his eye laser, and immediately looked to Theoduin and shot blasts from its arms.

The blast didn't seem to even move Alsyf at first, until he exploded. Sara just winced and started making her way around, getting close to the heart.

" _You feel it. The Dark. Yet you still fight."_ A voice said. She glanced at the Heart and gave a smirk.

"Yeah, the Lights my home. Not the Dark." She said aloud. She threw a Scatter grenade onto the back of the Vex, the explosion causing it to stop and turn. Theoduin went for Athena, to provide the Light needed to resurrect Alsyf. The Vex aimed at Sara and fired its Railgun like arms, one after the other. Sara rushed ahead as the explosions nearly knocked her off balance. She pulled out her fusion rifle and blasted it as she ran under and behind it. It braced its left leg and spun on its foot, slamming Sara in the side with its leg and sending her rolling on the ground.

"That's several breaks on your ribs." Seraph said as Sara coughed.

"No shit I can feel it!" She hissed through her teeth. The Gate Lord took aim and was hit from behind by two rockets. It quickly looked back to see Alsyf and Theoduin reloading. It stared for a moment as it looked back to Sara.

"That's not good." Sara said. Sara quickly stood, grunting in pain as Seraph worked on fixing her internal damage. She ran for cover only to get blasted in the back and sent sprawling on the ground. The Gate Lord looked to Alsyf and Theoduin and opened its chest. It's Shard of Dark pulsing quickly.

"Oh fuck!" Theoduin said. Alsyf held his hand up and a Hand Cannon of Gold formed in his hand as Solar Light covered him. He blasted its heart three times. The Gate Lord staggered, but stood straight. The Dark in its chest gathered and sent out a blast toward the two. Theoduin crossed his arms and Alsyf tried to jump down, but both were caught by it, a flash of Light being forced from their bodies. Theoduin simply fell to the ground. Alsyf landed hard on the ground, unmoving.

"Sara! Athena and Silvia have critically low Light Levels! It'd take a while to rez them!" Seraph said as Sara stood and took cover.

"Fuck, what happened?" Sara asked.

"It used the Darkness. My guess is we'd be more protected from it…you would be, anyways." Seraph said. Sara heard the Gate Lord walking closer. She sighed and ran in to the far side of her cover and shot as she sprinted. The Gate Lord turned and blasted its eye laser on the ground in front of her. She slammed her foot into the stone as it exploded in front of her, but she was hit by two rail gun shots, blasting her into a wall. It then pelted her with more, one after the other, until, her world went black.

She awoke in a dark space.

"…So, is this…death?" She asked no one in particular. "If so it sucks and I'd rather just not exist." She said. Then it hit her. "Wait…Alsyf and Theoduin were down too…did, did we fail at the very end?" She asked as she fell back down. She sighed as she sat in nothingness. "I…I can't accept that!" She said. "Failing when we're, so fucking close!?" She shouted. She looked around. "It's that what the Darkness had planned for me!?" She shouted.

No answer.

"Just to give hope!? You plant the Dark in me for that!? My ass! If you want me to fulfill some grand role! Release just enough Light to get me back in there!" She screamed out as she stood. Then, a small flame appeared in front of her, flickering in nothing, just at chest level.

"…I'm. Not. Done. Not yet. She said reaching for the flame. "If you wanted me to die here Darkness." She said and grabbed the flame, it covering her hand and slowly covering her body. "Try harder." She said.

Her hand twitched. Then, her body rose and she curled up, and let out a scream as she uncurled, wings of Light forming on her back. She threw a Fusion grenade, the split into four on a surprised Gate Lord, the grenades exploding and causing it to stagger. She ran over to where Theoduin and Alsyf lie. The Vex shot at her, but she dove into cover where Alsyf was, and poured an obscene amount of light into Athena.

"Sara, where is, that Light coming from?" She asked.

"Dunno, don't care either." She said. Athena rezzed Alsyf as Sara did the same to Silvia.

The Gate Lord looked heavily damaged, and its chest plate was damaged and open a bit. Sara pulled out her Machine gun.

"Hit it with your rockets!" She shouted as she jumped down. Alsyf and Theoduin obliged, firing their rockets into its chest as it charged its rail guns, only to stagger as its chest plate broke. Sara threw a fusion grenade on its leg, and the following explosion broke its leg, and causing it to fall. Sara hopped on it and shoved her machine gun in its chest, right on the Shard. She started blasting it, screaming as she did, the Vex Gate Lord crying in pain, until the shard burst, the explosion of force knocking her back onto the ground.

The Heart started convulsing violently, until it expanded, and exploded. Sara covered her eyes, and felt something bump her chest, ever so slightly. When she looked up, the sky had become its calming teal blue, and only lit embers of the Heart remained.

Sara was panting as her Radiance wore off, and she collapsed to her knees, exhaustion taking over her body.

"Sara, how you called forth enough Light to quick charge your super, was amazing. However that put a real strain on your body. Damage caused by Light isn't easy to fix with Light. You could have ended up dying for real." Seraph said.

"If I didn't…we all would have died." Sara muttered as she fell back to sit. Theoduin and Alsyf walked over and sat by her.

"Need some rest killer?" Theoduin asked.

"Just a bit guys…we have one hell of a story to tell." She said.

 **The Next Day…**

Sara, Alsyf, and Theoduin stood above the Hanger, as the Speaker, well, spoke to a crowd. The news had gotten out. The Black Garden was ruined, or rather its connection to the Darkness was.

"For centuries, we feared the forces of the Darkness amassing against us. We sought to hide, and cower beneath our Traveler. No. More. These Guardians have shown us what we are, what we always have been, and what we will be. We are what remains of the Light, and we will not be stamped out." The Speaker said some distance away.

The sound of footsteps pulled the three from the speech to turn, and see the Exo walking towards them.

"Enjoying the speech?" Theoduin asked. She chuckled.

"Yes, a day for medals and pretty speeches to appease those who are ignorant. But, you three, and I…we know the real fight is out there." She said looking into the orange sky. She pulls her weapon off her back and hands it to Sara. "Take this."

Sara looked it over and took it into her hands. "From what I know you need it more than me." She said and tried to hand it back. The Exo pushed it back to her.

"There's so much more Guardian. I've seen such terrible things born from the Darkness. Every moment brings them closer. All ends are beginnings. Our fight is far from over." She said. Sara looked down as she started to walk away.

"Hey, do you know…about-"

"Be ready Guardian." She cut her off. "For what is born of the Dark." She said as she vanished into white and blue energy.

"I think that's her way of saying, not yet, or, you already know." Alsyf said. Sara sighed.

"I suppose so." She said. "Well, we've got things that need doing. Let's get back out there Mythic."

It wasn't long before the crowd heard the roar of engines as Mythic's ships flew overhead.

"Those guys don't quit do they?" Blitz asked.

"Then why are we around listening to a speech?" Ash asked and started walking for the hanger.

Guardians from all teams headed for the Hanger.

A new flame was lit, and things, looked like they were going Humanity's way, for once in a long time.

* * *

DWA: That took friggin forever. But I really like how it turned out. And don't worry, we still have more chapters to go! So, tell me how I did in a review why don't ya!? This was a long one and I wanna hear how ya feel!


	23. Winter's Fall

DWA: Now with the Heart of Darkness defeated, our group has some things to tidy up! So please, sit back and enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 23: Winter's Fall**

Sara was sitting in her room, looking herself over in the mirror. She'd felt, odd as of late. The feeling was in her chest and would vanish quickly. However it's been fading, like she's been getting used to it.

"I've looked you over more times than I'm comfortable saying Sara, you're fine." Seraph said. "You're Light is fine too."

"Yeah, you're right." She said putting on her shirt. "I'm just a tad stir crazy. Blitzkrieg is out on Mars and fighting the Cabal, and I'm here being bored." She said shrugging as she walked over to her terminal and started typing her findings. She'd been doing lots of research on artifacts teams had brought from the Gardens. Since she was there during its Vex occupation, the Chryptarchs feel she should know more. She wish she did but the mission was far more pressing at the time.

So most were summed up as; found nothing new please stop. She sighed and looked out her window.

"There's gotta be something…" She said.

Seraph floated by her and blinked.

"I may have something. You know all those operations we did disturbing the House Winter?" He asked

"Yeah?"

"The Kell has landed his Ketch to oversee operations." He said. Sara glanced over.

"The Kell, the lord of the house? Landed?" She asked.

"That's right. There's an open slot for a fire team." He said. Sara spun on her heel.

"Sign us up." She said as she ran out the door and her armor formed around her. Her new armor looked sleek and professional. Longer robe, and such. She'd finally gotten some awesome gear.

"Aaand signed." Seraph said. He then notified the rest of Mythic. Confirmation notices came in quickly as Sara armored up as she ran to the hanger. She was eager to get out of the Tower after nearly a week boring missions and pointless research.

It wasn't long before Alsyf and Theoduin showed up.

"A Kell huh? Finally something interesting." Theoduin said.

"Normally I'd argue this is a very important mark and we need to take it seriously…but yeah I'm just happy to be doing something interesting." Alsyf said. "Plus, ya think he'll know us from messing up his operations?"

"Maybe, more fun if he does." Sara sad as she transmatted into her ship, her teammates following. Their ships took off and jumped into warp speed. The Vanguard channel opened.

"Fireteam Mythic, thank you for taking this mission." Zavala said.

"Of course Sir, we already messed up Winter a lot. Might as well do more and kill the Kell.

"Our thought exactly Guardians." Cayde chimed in. "Oo, if you see like, anything with ice, tell me cause I got a bet with someone and I gotta win."

"What Cayde means, is look out for any secrets the House of Winter might be keeping from us." Ikora said.

"Yes Ma'am. We'll keep our eyes open." Theoduin said.

"He means me." Sara said.

"Have fun Guardians." Cayde said and the channel closed as they came out of warp and flew down to the LZ, and transmatted down.

"We'll, we're ready when you are." Silvia said. The three got their guns ready, Sara had a rather well made scout rifle, colored in white, red and gold. A gift from the New Monarchy Faction. Her bond was also from the Faction, a red band with three scrolls facing outward.

Alsyf had a new hand cannon from Future War Cult. This one was a nice purple and had the logo on both sides. He'd grown to love it, even from just using it in the practice range. He also had a new cloak. But it really looked like a scarf with how small the fabric was. It still reached down to his lower back and he seemed to like it.

Theoduin had a new auto rifle from Dead Orbit, colored black and white. It fired slower than most, but packed quite a punch. His mark was black and the Logo of Dead Orbit was colored in white on it.

"Let's Go Mythic!" She said as she summoned her Sparrow and took off, the rest taking off after her. They arrive at a set of Caves, with Winter Banners all over, and head inside. The group keeps their head on a swivel seeing the number of holes in the walls.

"So, how deep do they go?" Theoduin asked. Seraph appeared and let out a pulse.

"They go on for a long time, but aren't very deep. Still, there could be thousands of Fallen in this cave system." He said

"So loud noises are a no go huh?" Sara said. Theoduin looked at his auto rifle then back to her.

"The fuck you mean no loud noises all we got are loud noises." He said holding it up

"…Just don't shoot until shot at." She said. Even through her helmet he could feel the 'I hate you so much' glare she was giving.

It made him chuckle.

The group come to a large room inside the cave. A roar was heard and several fallen crawled out of wherever they were hiding, all wearing the light blue tinge of House Winter. Some Vandals had special crests on their chests.

"The Kell's Guard!" Athena said.

"Careful, Kell's Guard don't go down without a fight!" Alsyf said firing his Hand cannon, the shots boring into a Vandal, then exploding, causing a roar from it as it fired back, the three taking cover. Sara quickly shot rounds from her Scout Rifle. The rate of fire was quick, along with controlled recoil and a large magazine she could take out many enemies quickly, she was taking out mostly fodder.

Theoduin fired his auto rifle, a steady fire rate in between what he'd seen so far. Not too fast, not too slow. The three fought the Fallen to the last, and moved on after a quick round up of ammo and engrams.

"If the Kell's Guard are here, the Kell is close." Silvia said.

They ran through the rest of the cave and soon found themselves outside, and saw the Ketch.

It was huge.

"Holy shit, think they're selling?" Theoduin asked.

"Hmm, do you even have enough?" Sara asked.

"Dude you're not thinking right. We all ride that bad boy." Theoduin said.

"Before that, let's go talk to the owner. I'm sure I can convince him to give us a discount." Alsyf said.

"You? Who here stays up learning Eliksni all night? Pff, you wouldn't know an insult from a marriage proposal." Sara said as she ran ahead.

"I feel like the tone would tell me!" Alsyf shouted back.

"Dude, its all gibberish to both of us don't even lie." Theoduin said as he took pot shots on the Fallen guarding the ship. Alsyf watched him try and use an auto rifle at such a long rang and sighed.

"Stop stealing my job." He said and shoved him. Theoduin shouted in surprise and rolled down the steep slope as Alsyf set up with his sniper, lying down on his stomach. "You're terrible at it." He said as she shot a captain, his Sniper round piercing its shield and skull at once as Sara took on Vandals from a distance.

"Hey, mind taking out their snipers? I can't move up." Sara said over the comms. Alsyf looked to the ship to see three Vandals with long rifles, firing down near Sara as Theoduin took the front guards off her.

"They make it so easy." Alsyf said as he shot three rounds in quick succession, killing the snipers. Soon all the Fallen outside were dead, and the three met up in front of the ship, and walked in. They fought their way through the corridors, many more Kell's Guard slowing them down.

"We're getting close." Alsyf said.

"How do you know?" Theoduin asked. grunting as he forced open a locked door.

"That last group was all Kell's Guard. Next room should be his." He said.

"Sounds fine to me." Sara said as she loaded her rifle. The group walked up a long corridor, until the door opened, and there sat the Kell, on his throne. It looked over at the three as they entered and growled, clicking its mandibles before standing. Sara sighed and cleared her throat. She then shouted in the Eliksni language. The other two looked at each other and shrugged. The Kell seemed surprised before laughing and shouting back.

"I told him his reign as Kell was over and added a witty joke about the seasons. I _think_ he appreciated the humor, but is royally pissed at us." Sara said.

"Knowing you, it wasn't witty." Alsyf said.

"There's a reason I don't do Stand-up nights." She said. The Kell lifted his fist and slammed it down, the door closing behind him as he spoke again.

"Now you'll see why I'm Kell of House Winter." Sara said.

"Sara, temperature outside your suit is dropping, fast." Seraph said.

"Considering we've done missions one the Moon I think we'll be fine." Theoduin said.

"That's not what we're worried about, but it should be noted we've sealed your suits. What's worrying is the fact frost is appearing. The room is very humid and now with the cold..." Silvia said

"Our suits can freeze up." Theoduin said. "Keep moving!" He said. The three started running and firing on the Kell, who roared and pulled out two shock sabers and two shrapnel Launchers. He fired at Theoduin who took the hits before ducking into cover. He popped back out and started firing. Sara threw a Vortex grenade at the Kell, who swiped at it with a saber, causing it to detonate, and he stepped back.

The floor was beginning to ice up.

Alsyf jumped up to on top of the Kell's throne and started firing down on him. The bullets exploded on his armor, causing him to turn and fire his launchers in succession. Alsyf was hit and ducked into cover and Theoduin threw a Pulse grenade, the pulses of Arc energy forcing the Kell to step away.

Sara grinned as she pulled out her Machine Gun and started unloading into the Kell, Alsyf and Theoduin firing Rockets into him, causing him to roar and let out a blast of cold air as he slammed his blades into the ground, knocking the three to their feet.

"Jeez does this guy have magic or something!?" Theoduin shouted.

"Feels like it." Sara said. "Who's got supers?" She asked as she ran to cover, nearly sliding away from it before she grabbed it to stop her sliding.

"I'm set." Alsyf said as he fired into the Kell's head.

"Same!" Thouduin shouted as he fired another rocket, the blast staggering the Kell. He fired both of his shrapnel launchers at Theoduin, pelting him with, well, shrapnel as he took cover, sliding behind a wall for cover. "Ow." He said.

"I'm good to go! Theoduin, you first!" She said.

"We'll draw his attention!" Alsyf said as he took off and fired at the Kell. The Kell looked over and rushed him. Alsyf tried to change direction but slipped and was consequently slashed by the Kell twice. The kell swung its leg and hit Alsyf in the gut, sending him sprawling on the floor and sliding to a wall.

"Son of a bitch…" He groaned as he sat up.

"Going in!" Theoduin shouted as he rushed in, arc Light dancing on his armor and gathering in his fists before he jumped up and slammed them into the Kell's face, sending him reeling back. "Boom Bitch!" He shouted. "Sara!"

Sara ran forward as Void Light gathered in her palm as she glided up, and tossed her Nova Bomb, slamming it into the Kell. The Kell fell to the ground and roared. The cool air whipped up into a near localized blizzard.

"Alsyf!" She shouted as she stepped back. Alsyf grunted as he got up and started gathering solar energy. It was hair to see, and the high wind may push his arm so, he had to get in close. He ran ahead as the gathered solar energy started forming around his Hand Cannon. He jumped, and jumped again and grabbed onto the kell.

"Hey big guy!" He said. The Kell roared and he shoved his Golden Gun in his mouth. Alsyf could tell it burned.

"Aaand, good bye." He said and fired three shots rapidly, and the blizzard stopped as the Kell fell to his knees and went limp, and fell over. Alsyf sighed.

"Well, that's that." He said.

"Damn, that was brutal." Theoduin said.

"And?" Alsyf asked.

"Just saying, let's get outside. Let the cold melt off in the sun." She said. Theoduin looked around for anything to take as Alsyf grabbed a Saber and transmatted it.

As the group started to make their way out, their comms sprang to life with Cayde's voice.

"He-he-heeeey Fireteam Mythic. I know you're either on a mission or-oh, bad time?" He asked.

"Ahh no we're fine. Just took out the Kell." Sara said.

"Oh wow! I'm…wow that's really good damn." He said.

"What Cayde means to say is a job well done." Zavala said. "But we have an issue." He said.

"Go for it." Sara said.

"The House of Winter has procured a cell from the Prison of Elders, with an Archon Priest inside." Ikora said.

"Oh that's not good." Alsyf said.

"If it gets out and is, uncontested, the House of winter will become zealots. A Kell Priest." She continued.

"Fun fact, not to far if ya want more pay." Cayde added.

"We'll take the job." Theoduin said.

"Good. Be Brave Guardians. This Priest will be no push over." Zavala warned.

"We'll be fine. Mythic out." Sara said. The group left the ship to see several Fallen had gathered.

"Sara, I got the data, the door down there is our path to the Priest." Seraph said.

"Well then, let's go."

* * *

DWA: Heeeeeyyyy this is late. But I had fun with the fight. It was nice to put a spin on the Winter part of the house. Next up, an Archon Priest. See ya then!


End file.
